Opposing Force 2: Shepard and City17
by yankempire
Summary: Corporal Adrian Shepard is released by the Gman to fight the Combine. Takes place before and during HalfLife 2.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Military Expertise Rated M: for language and violence

Adrian couldn't see a thing. Not that his eyes didn't work but because of where he was, an endless black void. It was like being in outer space, he wasn't standing on anything, he couldn't feel a floor yet he still stood erect and the infinite space had no stars. He wondered where he was. The last place he had been which only seemed to be moments ago was an Osprey, a military helicopter. He was onboard with that man in a blue suit and carrying a briefcase, he had no idea who he was or who he worked for, he could only assume he was a agent for the U.S. government but he had no idea which agency. After that "g-man" seemed vanish when he entered the cockpit everything slowly went dark and Adrian seemed to have fallen asleep only to wake up after what seemed to be a few seconds in this void. He had to get out of here, so he did the one thing he could, he started walking. He did not know where he was going or what he was looking for but even after walking a few minutes in this place and not find anything he started to run frantically, hoping to find something or better yet, hoping he would wake up from this terrible dream to be in his barracks with his fellow marines. He hoped that all that had happened at Black Mesa was not real, the death of his friends and the horrific monsters and betrayal was not real, just a sicked, twisted nightmare.

Or perhaps this was real. Could this place be where that g-man had said he would detain. Adrain did not know and his fear took control of him as he fell to the ground screaming, "Somebody help me, please! Is anybody here, help me."

"_Help_, Corporal Shepard...help?" asked a voice, "I would _not_ have thought someone so well trained as yourself would need any sort of..._assistance_."

Adrain recognized that voice immediately, it was the voice of a man who seemed to have a speech impedement, one who would pause frequently in sentence and stress certain words needlessly. The man's voice was low but he talked in a eiry way, almost in a way that a witch would talk. It was the voice of that g-man.

"Where are you? Show yourself coward and tell me who the fuck you are!" shouted Adrian. He then heard footsteps behind him. As he turned around he saw the man who had imprisoned him here. He wore a blue suit with a black tie, his shoes were black and the black briefcase he carried had the gold symbol of Black Mesa on it. He had a skinny body which his suit seemed to cling to. His face was long and scrawny and his white skin seemd to have a tint of yellow in it. His jet black hair was in a crewcut style and his eyes were a bright green. It appeared he did not get enough sleep because under his eyes his skin was bluish and shallow yet he seemed wide awake.

"Now now Corporal Shepard, that conduct is...unbefitting to a United States _Marine_. What would your..._superior_ officers say to that.," said the g-man as he came to a stop a foot away from Shepard.

"Where am I and who the hell are you?" demanded Shepard.

"_I_, I am of no importance but my...employers...they _are_ of importance. As to where you...are. Well to tell you would just be giving away a..._vital_ secret...one which i would not like to fall into the wrong _hands_." he said. Adrian wondered what the hell he was talking about but before he could speak the g-man spoke, "Besides, to answer all your questions would take time and _time_ is not always...on our side, Corporal Shepard. Although I _suspect_ you cannot _grasp_ the reality of time...being in the state you were just in. And I have an _assignment_ for you Corporal, one which your...military _expertise_ would benefit you and my employers...well. Now _good _luck Corporal Adrian Shepard, you will..._need_ it where you are going. Now get moving marine, get moving and see what...time has _done_."

Adrian didn't know what to say. He closed his eyes and tried to think but when he couldn't he opened his eyes to see that the g-man was gone and he was standing on an open beach. He looked around and saw that the beach was about one-hundred yards wide and ended at a fifty foot ridge that was a long as he could see. He saw a few houses atop the ridge, each had a dock that jutted off the ridge but stopped only a few yards out, not even close and well above the water. The sky was gray and overcast and cold wind made it feel close to freezing. He looked down to see he was wearing his combat boots and urban fatigues. What stunned him even more was to see that he was wearing his Personal Combat Vest or PVC. He wasn't wearing a helmet or the gas mask he had on at Black Mesa and beside his basic combat knife he was unarmed. That did not suprise him since the g-man said back when they were on the Osprey that his weapons and gear were government property. He could tell it was getting close to nightfall and knew that the temperature would drop further. He decided to seek refuge in one the homes. He took a step toward the ridge and froze.

The ground started to rumble as if an earthquake was happening. Then a dozen yellowish insect-like creatures dug themselves out of the ground and encircled Shepard. They were only about a meter high and just as wide with four bug-like legs coming from the torso and it head was connected to it torso but it seemed to have no neck. Adrian was stunned at first but not scared. He had never seen these things before but they bore a semblence to creatures he fought at Black Mesa. Did those aliens or whatever they were spread across the entire world, did humans even exist anymore and how long has it been since the incident at Black Mesa occur. It had to be years, at the least three or four if not more.

Adrian was pulled back to reality when one of the creatures let out a high pitched scream and lunged at him. Shepard did the only thing he could, he rolled to the side, barely dogding its attack. He pulled out his knife only to have one the things jump on top of him. It picked up its leg to reveal a sharp and deadly point which Shepard knew he would be impaled by. He stabbed upward and jammed his knife into point where it's head connected to its body. Yellow blood poured out of the wound after he dislodged his knife from it. The creature let out a short scream and its body dropped on top of Adrian, pining him to the sand. The other creatures screamed and charged but the first one to try and strike him was ripped apart from machine gun fire. The rest appeared to fly away, their torsos split in two revealing wings and they flew about thirty yards into the sky and landed about fifty yards away from Shepard, putting him in between the creatures and the ridge. He turned and looked toward the ridge to see several humans standing atop one of the docks. They were firing what appeared to be assualt rifles as blue tracers passed over his head to hit those creatures behind him. He could hear them shouting and waving their arms, beckoning him toward them.

So he started to run toward the dock only to see more of these creatures emerge from the ground and pursue him. Many fell under the fire coming the dock but there were just to many and some began to gain on him. He finally made it to the end of the dock but could see no way up. He turned to see a pair of the monsters a dozen yards from him only to be torn to pieces by the concentrated gunfire.

"Hey, you," a voice called from above. He looked up to see a rope dropped down from the dock. He grabbed it and without checking to see if it was secure he began climbing. It only took him a few seconds to get to the top. Apparently his military expertise was exactly what he needed considering climbing the rope is one of the first things a marine recruit does at boot camp.

He looked toward the men who had saved his life. There were four pf them and they all were wearing dark blue fatigues with a gold symbol on their arms that looked strangily familiar, he had seen it at Black Mesa but he couldn't remember exactly where. He soon realized they were staring at him, he got up and said, "Thank you, you save my life."

"No problem," said a man who Adrian presumed was the leader, "but what the fuck are you doing on the beach during the Antlions spawning season?"

What the hell is an Antlion, he thought. "Look, sir, I dont know where I am and what is an Antlion?" Shepard asked.

"Those things down there are Antlions and they'll eat anything that walks on the beach and we are on the coast a few miles outside City-17," said the leader, a man in his late forties, early fifties who appeared to have seen his fair share of combat.

"Where is City-17?" asked Adrian, clearly confused by the name and from what just happened.

The leader looked a little annoyed, "Its about fifteen miles that way," he said pointing inland.

"No, what area is it in, what country?"

The man looked at him confused. He was silent for several seconds andhe was about to answer when he looked up into the sky with a distressed look on his face. Adrian looked up to find what he was looking for. Before he saw anything thing he heard a soft but quick thumping sound that sounded closely to a helicopter. It got louder and was coming from behind the hill that lay farther inland about eighty yards away.

Adrian stood there staring when the man grabbed his shoulder hard, "Combine, lets go now!" was all he shouted as he pulled Adrian with him. They ran toward the house at the end of the dock. All the men on the dock excpet for Shepard and the leader were inside the house when what was making the noise flew right over the hill, barely missing the top of it. It flew past Shepard and it looked like nothing he had ever seen before. It looked like a flying beetle, its "cockpit" was small and round but its frame got gradually wider the farther when looked upon its frame. At its end was a helicopter proppeler and it had a fin on each side of it a third of the way up from the cockpit. It quickly turned around in such a graceful and living way. As it turned to the left to turn around it frame and fins turned at different points that no modern jet or helicopter could do.

Adrian stood there in awe as it began firing from a cannon under its nose. Blue tracers tore the leader to pieces as he pushed him through the door of the house. The aircraft then fired into the house, tearing the walls apart and shattering the windows. Adrian was pulled by another man down some old wooden stairs into what must be the cellar. More bullets riddled the house but none were able to penetrate the concrete roof of the basement.

"What the fuck was that?" Adrian said hystrically.

"Quiet," whispered the one who pulled him downstairs. Adrian remained silent and listened to what appeared to be two more ships of the same sort fly over and come extremely low to the ground. A few seconds later he heard two explosions from upstairs and the rustle of footsteps. He could only assume soldiers of some sort were raiding the house.

"Overwatch," said the one next to him as he handed him a pistol. Adrian looked at him confused as he took the gun. He checked to see if it was loaded and released the safety. Just then a grenade fell down the stairs. The others ran to a place to hide as Adrian ran to the other end of the basement, he faced the wall and covered his face with his arms. The explosion shook the cellar and filled the room with dust that obscured his vision. Adrian turned and pointed his gun toward the stairs,his ears were ringingbut he could see fine.

He saw half a dozen soldiers with sub-machineguns and shotguns appears from the dust wearing navy blue body armor and dark, almost black gas mask. The room exploded in gunfire as those hiding in the basement open fired. Adrian fired as well until he was hit by several rounds. His PCV stopped the bullets but he was knocked to the ground. He lay on the ground for a few seconds and then tried to get up. As he got to his knees a boot shot out and kicked him in the face. he fell back down as blood gushed out of his mouth.

"Don't move Citizen," came an extremely deep and artificial voice, "you are under arrest." Adrian looked up to see one of the masked soldiers standing above aiming a shotgun at his head. After that everything went dark and once agian Adrian Shepard entered another black, endless void.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Interrogation

Adrian woke up slowly, his vision remained blurred for several seconds and his head throbbed from the kick to his face. He tried to get up but something pushed him down to the ground.

"No, you must lie still," said a man he sounded as if he was still going through puberty, "You took quite a blow to the head. You probably have a concussion so you should rest." Adrian didn't bother listening, he through the man's hands off him and got up as best he could. As soon as his vision fully recovered he scanned the room he was in. It was about five meters by five meters, it had three metal walls and its fourth appeared to be some sort of blue energy field. He went up and placed his palm on it, it didn't hurt him and it felt like a hard metal wall but instead of being cold it was warm and somewhat soothing feeling to it. He could see a long hallway about twenty yards long with several doors on each side of. After pushing with all his strength he finally gave up, realizing the field would never give away. He turned and sat up against the warm energy field and finally saw the person occupying the room with him. It was one of the men who saved his life on the dock, but he was only a boy, no more than sixteen years old, he didn't even have to shave yet. He still wore the same dark blue fatigues with that familiar symbol on his shoulder but his weapons and gear weren't with him.

"I see you finally figured out you wouldn't be able to get through that, only Combine personnel can pass through them," he said only to get a confused look from Adrian. He continued without noticing, "I'm Yuri Olev," he said in a sharp Russian accent, "I know you don't remember what happened after we were captured considering you were unconscious but I will tell you. I was disarmed after I ran out of ammo and captured but the rest were killed. We were brought here by dropship, we are in a Combine Civil Protection Headquaters inside City-17. We should only be about a mile from the Citadel, which is where we will be going soon after I regret," Yuri said sadly.

What the boy just said only stupified him more, ever since he just arrived at the beach everything he heard or saw was completey unkown to him. City-17, Combine, Overwatch, those insect creatures, that aircraft, the weapons. The only thing that was familiar to him was the symbol on the boy's shoulder, he believed it was from Black Mesa but he couldn't quite remember.

"Yuri, what the hell is going on right now, who is the Combine and what..." Shepard was cut off as he heard one of the doors behind him open. He turned to see several soldiers come into the hallway. They wore the same navy blue uniform as the soldiers he encountered earlier but they were wearing smaller body armor and wore white gasmasks intstead of black ones. There were four of them, all armed with holstered pistols and each of them held some sort of riot baton in their hands. They began walking toward their cell.

"This is it fellow brother, we are going to the Citadel," said Yuri. Adrian looked toward him to see that he was certainly scared but he was able to keep himself under control. Shepard looked back to see the soldiers walk straight through the energy field. Two of batons seemed to activate when an electrical pulse flashed through them, one of them hit Adrian and the other one hit Yuri. He felt a flash of extreme pain that burned his arm where he was hit but slowly faded away and left no mark on him.

"You two will follow us now," said one of the soldiers with the same exact deep and artificial voice he heard from the soldiers at the beach. "If you chose to disobey our orders you will face severe punishment. Station 4B, deactivate Cell 7." he must have said this into a radio inside his mask for the energy field suddenly disappeared. The soldier then walked into the hallway as Adrian and Yuri were push forward by the three guards behind him. They followed the guard through the door they came in from and came into some sort a security checkpoint. Adrian looked around the building as he followed along and it appeared he was walking through an old police station. There were several guards inside a small office sitting at very large and strange computer consoles. They pressed several buttons and the energy field in front of them disappeared as well and they continued through the halls. They walked along for several more minutes passing several soldiers all dressed in the same uniform as there escorts and as well as a few more checkpoints.

They finally arrived at their apparent destination. It was another security checkpoint but this one was different from the rest, not only was it larger but in one of the adjacent offices sat a man in a suit, the first person Adrian had seen in here without the uniform of there guards, except for him and Yuri of course. The guard led them inside the office, the suited man sat behind a wooden desk and was typing on a laptop computer, one that Adrian had never seen before but nonetheless a laptop. He was flanked by two guards wearing all white armored uniforms with knee high black boots and a white helmet and mask that covered their entire faces, in the center of the mask was a large red lens which Adrian assumed was some sort of vision enhancement device. The man behind the desk wore a dark gray suit with a dark blue tie. As Shepard and Yuri came to a stop at the foot of the desk the man looked up at them. He appeared to be in his late fifties with dark gray hair to match his suit that was fashioned in an obvious come-over, he had a bushy gray moustache as well and he had wide shoulders and the large, muscular build.

The man stopped typing and looked up toward the two prisoners, "You two are the resistance fighters stationed at what you call Point Mesa, are you not," asked the man. Adrian did not answer, he was in no position to, he had no idea what the man was talking about. He decided to stay silent, presuming that Yuri would have some idea what the man spoke of but to his dismay Yuri did not answer. He looked over at the young man to see that he stood there defiantly, Adrian could tell the man was to stubborn and headstrong to answer. He knew what was probably going to happen now but he didn't want to even think about it.

"Well well," said the man behind the desk, "you two obviously have no idea what awaits you now." He quickly looked over Yuri and then Adrian but he seemed to take his time with him and seemed to look at every part of his body. "Guards, take that one to Section 4B for processing," he said pointing to Yuri, "but leave this one here with me."

Two guards led Yuri out of the room. Adrian looked at Yuri to see that he still had that defiant look on his face. Two guards stayed behind Adrian while the ones in the white uniforms behind the seated man remained still. The man in the suit began typing on his computer again as Sheppard watched on in a state of utter confusion. Why was he told to stay, he knew nothing and Yuri obviously knew more than he did, he didn't even know who this resistance was. Judging from his captors, this so-called Combine and their weapons, uniforms, and aircraft they must be the military power of City-17 and Yuri and his rescuers must have been some sort of rebel forces. But how was the antlions from the beach involved in this, and were any of the aliens he faced at Black Mesa still exist on Earth. He stopped thinking when the suited man turned his laptop toward him to see a picture of him and what appeared to his military record.

"You are Corporal Adrian Sheppard of the 81st Hazardous Environment Combat Regiment of the former United States Marine Corps?" asked the man, starring at him intently.

"Yes, I am," responded Adrian confused by what the man meant by former.

"I'm sure you still don't you hold that rank Mr. Sheppard?" he asked but when he got no answer from Adrian he continued on, "I was able to to find out who you are due to patch on your shoulder." He was refering to his unit's insignia on his shoulder patch, a black skull upon a red field. It was a well earned reward for six months of brutal training in order to join one of the most elite combat units in the world. He expected to make a career in the 81st but his first mission ended in the death of almost everyone in the regiment and him being secluded in a dark void.

He was pulled from his thoughts when the man began to speak, "You are a rarity indeed, I doubt you know this but of the eight-twenty men in your unit only seventy-four survived the incident at Black Mesa and only nine are confirmed to be alive now. You being the ninth one that is." Only nine of us still lived, my god Adrian thought. How long has it been since then, sixty of the survivors were dead, but how.

"What happened to the survivors who have died?" Adrian asked.

"Well, many died during the transistion period and several joined the resistance only to be killed. Sad really, a waste. The Combine could have used..." the man was never able to finish. A waste, the man said, how could this man speak of them that way. It filled Adrian with such so much hate and anger that he dove across the desk and tackled the man out of the chair and began beating him with his fists. Blow after blow Adrian landed on his face and head until the guards struck him with their stun batons. Eventually his grip on the man failed and the guards dragged him off the suited man. Adrian tried to get to his feet but a blow to his head and kneecaps but him on his knees. The man rose to his feet with the help from a guard. His face was bloodied and bruised, even worse than Adrian's from all the blows from the baton.

The man straightened his suit and tie and dusted himself, he seemed to be unaffected from the punches, "You should not have done Mr. Sheppard. You have just doomed yourself to a life you don't want but will never know you will have. Take him away." And with that two guards dragged him away to a fate he could not begin to comprehend.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Search and Rescue

Adrian was dragged through several different corridors by two guards. He knew he shouldn't have hit the man in the suit but he he had humiliated his dead friends and fellow marines. No one has the right to violate the names of any dead soldier, no matter what position of power they held. That was Adrian's belief and he had and always will stand by it. Even has he was being dragged to his possible demise he did not regret what he had done, his only wish was that he had the the few more seconds he needed to tear that man's life from his body. He knew he didn't have much time so he quickly scanned the area and the troops and their armaments. He didn't see much other than a very long and gloomy corridor and an occasional guard or two walk by. At one time he saw another person in civilian colthes but the man walked past him before he could examine him closely. The two guards dragging him both had their stun batons and what appeared to be a USP pistol in its holster..

They soon came up upon a door at the end of the hallway. The guards opened the door with some sort of keypad and when it slid open they dragged Adrian inside. They shoved Adrian into a small metal chair that was hard and uncomfortable, not to mention freezing. He quickly scanned the room and found that he was sitting at the end of a small rectangular table. There was a chair at the other end of the table along with a large box resting on the table in front of the vacant chair. Adrian didn't want to know what was in the box but he could only imagine it to hold something insidious. There were one guard standing in the corner to the back of the room. As he looked around the rest of the room he could see there were no security cameras in here. It surprised him since the rest of the complex was filled with him but he also knew why there wouldn't be any in the room. He was probably going to be tortured and no one wanted evidence of cruel treatment of people by a government falling into the hands of the people or especially the media. The guards restriained his arms to the chair's armrests rendering him immobile.

"Be careful, this one's a little unruly, you need help?" asked one of the guards to the one in the back of the room"

"No, we'll be fine." responded the guard with the same deep and sinister voice as the other guards. The two guards left leaving Adrian to ponder over what the remaining guard just said. What did he mean, "we." Did he mean himself and Adrian or was someone else coming to. The guard himself looked the same as the others in this place. He wore a white gasmask with navy blue fatigues and a black combat vest. He was armed with a pistol and stun baton but nothing else. Soon the door behind him opened and someone walked in.

To Adrian's suprise it was a woman dressed in civilian clothes. She was wearing black pants and coat with a white blouse and black high heels. She qas quite attractive with long black hair and slightly tanned white skin. The only thing not remotely dark about her were her eyes, they were a bright sky blue color almost the same as Adrian's. She had a small button nose and large red lips. She moved very feminely and was quite a thing to look upon. She quickly took her seat in the chair opposite to Sheppard and it shocked him to learn that she was probably going to be his interogator.

She opened the file she had carried with her and with a very soft, femine voice she said, "Adrian Sheppard, formely a corporal of the United Stated Marine Corp. A worthy life you served back then," she quickly looked over him and then spoke again, "hm, it appears all the things you must have gone through over the years and the current rebellion have not taken much of a toll on your aging process." What did she mean by that, how long had it been since Black Mesa. More thoughts came swirling into his head. Questions that have remained unanswered took control of his thoughts and Adrian had trouble concentrating on the woman in front of him.

"Now Mr. Sheppard," she said bringing him back to reality, "let me explain to you how this is going to go. I will ask you questions, if I don't get answers this man behind me will simply hurt you. If I still don't get answers he will use what is inside this case right here on you," she said refering to the box in front of her, "do you understand?"

"Yes," replied Adrian. He was about to ask her a question when she cut him off.

"To let you know Mr. Sheppard, very few get past the initial beatings and those that do usually give in when they see what is inside this box. I myself have never had to resort to using them, only a few of us have and very rarely I might add."

"Now Mr. Sheppard, how did you come to be a part of the resistance?" she asked.

Adrian didn't know what to say, so he just told the truth, "I don't anything about a resistance," the woman remained expressionless but her eyes started to narrow, "I don't even know what a Combine is or what a City-17 is. All I know is that some agent working for something brought me here after the incident at Black Mesa."

She sat there motionless for several seconds and then said, "Very well Mr. Sheppard. Corporal," she said to the guard behind her," You may begin." The guard took several steps toward Sheppard and when he was just passing the interrogator a large explosion rocked the building. Parts of the ceiling fell on Sheppard as the woman fell from her seat. Two guards ran in through the door only to be killed from quick double taps to the head. Adrian looked up to see that the guard in the room had shot them. The woman looked up at him with a scared and stunned look on her face. She reached underneath the table and revealed a pistol from it but the guard already had his gun to her face and knocked the pistol from her hand.

"Get up," he said to the woman with his deep and artificially sounding voice. She got up slowly with her hands held above her hand. The guard opened the box on the table and Adrian as well as the woman were shocked by its contents. There were two sub-machineguns of some type Adrian had never seen before. There was also a pistol, several clips of ammunition, handcuffs, and duct tape. The guard turned the woman around and hadcuffed her hands behind her back with those from the case. He then shoved her onto the ground and rushed over to Adrian. He freed him from his restraints only to be rewarded with a look a suprise on Adrian's face. Seeing this the guard removed removed his gasmask to reveal the face of a young hispanic looking man with jet black hair.

"I'm Santiago Rebenga, I'm with the resistance. We're getting you out of here."

"And her," Adrian said nodding toward the woman.

"Her name is Kaitlyn O'Rourke. She's with the Combine, she coming with us along with whoever else we can rescue or capture.

"I assume you're talking about a rescue team, where are they?" asked Adrian.

"They should be here any second," Santiago said. Within thirty seconds there was three knocks at the door, a pause and then two more knocks. Santiago opened the door and in more soldiers came in. They weren't Combine troops, they were wearing the same uniforms as those he met at the dock but they were wearing heavy body and combat helmets of different type and origin. There were four of them armed with those strange assualt rifles Adrian saw earlier and each had a sidearm, knife, and several grenades.

"Alright," said one of the soldiers, "we gotta go regroup with the others at the rendezous and prepare for extraction." With that Santiago gave Adrian a sub-machinegun and pistol from the case along with some ammo. Rebenga took one for himself and then with the duct tape he bound Kaitlyn's legs. She started screaming and struggling estatically so he slapped her hard across the face with enough force to make her fall over. With another piece of tape he gagged her, effectively shutting her up. The soldiers took up position with two men in the front, Adrian in the middle along with Rebenga carrying Kaitlyn and two more soldiers in the rear.

They went into the hallway, going at quick but constant pace as they scanned every part of their surroundings. As they kept going Adrian could begin to hear constant gunfire and several screams. They passed a security checkpoint and Adrian could see that all the guards were dead. His escort must have killed them while coming to rescue him. Eventually they came upon a large lobbey with four corridors leading to it. There were several soldiers who Adrian had come to realize were a part of this so-called resistance. They had barricaded all the corridors with overturned tables and rubble from the building's walls and ceiling. The soldiers let them climg over the barricade and when he was in the lobbey Adrian finally saw the source of the explosion. The roof on top then was blown wide open and the ropes coming from the top lead Adrian to believe that the rescue team repelled down from the open roof. In the lobbey were a dozen other soldiers and several men in civilian clothes with there arms and legs bound and some where gagged. Adrian looked at them hoping to find the one who had insulted his dead friends but he was not there. More soldiers started to crawl over the barricade and Adrian was amazed to see Yuri with the group. They must have freed some prisoners because along with Yuri were about a dozen men and women in white prison jumpsuits. There were now about two dozen soldiers with body armor and assualt rifles and another thirty freed prisoners armed with pistols and sub-machineguns. There were also nine prisoners captured by the resistance along with Adrian's interrogator.

There was an eruption of gunfire from down the two left hand corridors and several grenades exploded in front of the barricades. Several soldiers fired from each barricade as the rest prepared to move out. It only took a few moments for the soldiers to get in position and prepare the prisoners for travel. These soldiers were superbly trained thought Sheppard. They covered every patch of ground and worked as an effective unit. Although they were not on par with his former unit they were certainly formidible opponents for any enemy.

"Alpha Team, move out," yelled one of the soldiers. After a group of six soldiers ran out the doors into the streets the man called out again, "Bravo Team, move out." Eight more soldiers along with all the rescued prisoners including Yuri ran out the doors, Santiago came up and grabbed Adrian, taking him with the prisoners. They ran out into a street that ran parallel with the building he was just in. What Adrian saw stunned him.

He was in some city he presumed to be City-17. It appeared to be a Russian city from the signs he could see on the old, broken down buildings. There were several large blue metal walls that looked like mouths full of dark teeth that separated parts of the city from the rest. Behind the building he had just been rescued from was something he had never seen before. Before him was a dark blue skyscraper that reached into the clouds, Adrian couldn't even see the top of it from where he stood. From some opening he could not see poured out hundreds of small aircraft and several dozen larger gunships he saw from the beach. Then another group of soldiers came out of the doors, several were carrying the bound bound prisoners. After them the rest of the soldiers came out as several large explosions brought several sections including the lobbey crumbling down. Four pickup trucks with armored plating and large machine guns mounted on the back pulled up along with six large transport trucks. The freed prisoners were put on the trucks first and when they were secure everyone else began to load up.

"Striders," Adrian heard cry out. He turned around to see four vehicles if thats what they could be called. They were each five stories tall with a frog like head resting atop two legs on its sides and one in the back of it. Portruding from underneath the head was a large cannon. The technicals began firing on them as several rockets were fired by the soldiers. The lead Strider was hit by five rockets and fell into one of the buildings, bringing down part of the wall. The others quickly took its place and fired on the soldiers with with machinegun fire from their canons. Then everything around the head of the new lead strider began to bend and a bright blue light appeared from its cannon. It then let out a large burst of energy that slammed into one of the transports. The explosion blew several men to pieces and sent the truck flying into the air only to end up crashing down upon another transport filled with several soldiers and bound prisoners, crushing the life out of them. Behind the striders flew a pair of gunships about a kilometer away and closing in fast.

"Go go go," cried a soldier to the lead technical driver. The technicals sped off along with the four remaining transports. Only the rescued prisoners, several of the captured civilians, and about a dozen soldiers were onboard. They left behind about twenty soldiers including Adrian, Yuri, Santiago, and two civilian prisoners; Kaitlyn O'Rourke and a man in a brown suit.

"Come on, follow me," cried out one of the soldiers, "we'll take the tunnel route to Point Haven." The man then ran into one of the buildings followed by several soldiers. Santiago ran up carrying Kaitlyn and shoved Adrian toward the door. A burst of machinegun fire hit near him so he quickly ducked behind some rubble. When he looked back he saw Santiago staring into his eyes, but he remained still for his body was blown into half, his entrails covered the pavement around his corpse. About a yard behind him lay Kaitlyn, bound and gagged. Bullets smacked the street all around her as she could do nothing but try and scream through her gag. She was only a few yards away from Adrian but the streets were littered with gunfire. Yuri tugged on his shoulders, motioning him toward the door the soldiers were entering. It was a dozen meters away and the path was littered with cover that would supply ample cover till he reached the entrance.

"Come on," yelled Yuri.

"I'm going for her," said Adrian.

"No, she isn't worth it. She's the enemy," shouted Yuri, looking upon Adrian with disgust.

"I don't care, its the right thing to do," Adrian than ran into the street to get her. Bullets kicked up dirt and gravel all over him as he came to her. Yuri and the remaining soldiers provided him with some cover fire. One of the striders was about to fire on Adrian but when a soldier ran only several yards in front of it running for the door it speared the man with one of its legs. The man's gruesome death gave Adrian the time to heft Kaitlyn over his shoulder. As he ran back to the door he felt a searing pain in his thigh that tore open his leg. He stumbled the last yard or so and fell behind some rubble as Kaitlyn's head hit the street hard, knocking her out cold. He looked at his to see that a bullet had passed straight through his thigh. He tore a piece of cloth off a dead soldier and tied it tightly around the wound. Pain shot through his upper body but the makeshift bandage was able to stop most of the bleeding. He then picked the girl up and put her over one of his shoulders. He got up and ran as fast as he could until he passed through the door. He followed Yuri down a flight of stairs into a basement. Great, another basement Adrian thought. Just as he got all the way down stairs an explosion brought part of the celing down and blocked the entrance to the cellar and covered the place in darkness.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Tunnel Vision

Darkness surrounded Adrian as dust assaulted his lungs. His whole body ached and carrying his bound interrogator over his shoulder certainly didn't help. She may not weigh much but Adrian was so exhausted; mentally for the most part but she was just another burden to deal with. He knew he was in some basement but he wasn't sure if anyone still alive was with him. Someone coughing to his left told him he wasn't alone. He could hear someone fidgeting with some gear. He was letting his eyes adjust to the darkness until he was blinded by a bright stream of light that suddenly appeared before his eyes.

"Get that light out of my eyes, dammit," snarled Adrian.

"Sorry," said the man with the flashlight, "Sound off, who's here."

"Randall," said a voice.

"Yurkevich's here."

"Chang here," said a man.

"I'm here, Yuri's here," said Yuri.

"Shepard here," Adrian responded.

The man with the flashlight waited for any more voices but when none came he pointed the light toward Shepard, "Collins' here. Shepard, you're the American marine we freed, correct."

"Yeah," Adrian responded.

"Who's that you're carrying Shepard," said Collins, who appeared to be the leader.

"One of the interrogators, Kaitlyn O'Rourke is her name."

"Okay, good. We're gonna have to go through the tunnels. Take her with us Shepard, if we can't take her all the way we'll leave her," said Collins.

"Where are we going sir," Adrian asked, obviously confused.

"To one of our bases, of course," Collins said with a hint of annoyance in his voice, "Alright, lets move out," he then took some glow sticks from a pouch on his belt and cracked them on. He tossed one to each person including Adrian.

Adrian caught the stick and before he followed he adjusted his gear, he strapped his MP-7 to his body so it hung in front of him. He propped Kaitlyn farther up his shoulder and then fell in line behind all but Chang. He looked over Chang with the blue light from the glow stick. He wore gray fatigues with a black combat vest. He was an Asian man with black hair and brown eyes. Although he stood several inches shorter than Adrian he was incredibly powerful. Not only did he carry an RPD, an eastern bloc light machine gun, he carried several belts of ammunition, a sidearm, and an RPG launcher. Adrian tried to scan over the other men but all he could see were their backs. Other than Yuri he knew nothing of the men with him.

He must have been in sort of warehouse because the basement was huge. They had walked fifty meters before they came up to a wall. The wall was covered with rubble and tossed over furniture. Two of the men in front of Adrian tore down some of the rubble to reveal an iron hatch in the ground. One of the men pulled it open and dropped through, the others followed suit. Adrian lifted the unconscious girl off his shoulder and gently lowered her through the hole where one of the men took hold of her. Adrian dropped down into a small, dank tunnel that was evidently a sewer due to the dark, smelly water that went up to his ankles on the bottom of the tunnel. He turned to face the rest of the group only to have Kaitlyn thrust into arms.

"Here, you take her," said a man with an Eastern European accent, "By the way, my name is Boris Yurkevich."

"Thanks, Adrian Shepard," he said in return, quite annoyed by what Boris did. He started to lift the girl over his shoulders when she started to moan through her gag. Adrian looked at her face, she was still unconscious and her long black hair was disheveled and covered part of her face. Adrian went to tear the silver duct-tape off her lips but Chang grabbed his arm.

"Don't," he said, "she may wake up and we don't need a screaming Combine bitch with us."

Adrian left the gag on her and hoisted her over his shoulders. He fell back in line and followed the group with Chang still holding up the rear. They walked for about three-hundred yards before the stone ceiling of the sewer gave way to a long iron grate. Sunlight poured into the sewer so Adrian and the rest pocketed their glow sticks. Adrian looked up to see that they were right under a street in the middle of this so-called City-17. He could see several old, eastern European buildings and a bleak, gray sky. They kept walking until the stone around them began shaking.

All of a sudden several armored cars passed right above them. Just after they passed Adrian could hear the sound of marching boots. He instinctively pressed himself against the wall. In order to get as close to wall as possible he pulled Kaitlyn off his shoulder and held her with her back facing him tightly. He noticed the other men press against the wall as well, scared expressions covered their faces. The marching became so loud that Adrian knew they were getting close. After several seconds a group of thirty soldiers dressed in heavy body armor and black gas masks marched across right on top of the iron grate.

Just as the soldiers were passing above them Kaitlyn began to stir and moan through her gag. Adrian realized she was regaining consciousness. After stirring for a moment she woke up and began looking around. All she saw was a group of rebels holding her in a dank sewer. She looked up to see a platoon of soldiers, so she tried to scream as loud as she could through her gag. Adrian quickly slipped his right hand over her mouth and squeezed tightly. What little noise she had made immediately silenced. However, the last two soldiers of the group stopped, it seemed as if they had heard the Kaitlyn's whimpering. Adrian and the rest tensed, Chang and Yuri raised their weapons, prepared to fire if they were discovered.

Kaitlyn, noticing that the soldiers may have heard her began to struggle frantically, she tried to twist out of Adrian's grasp and yell through the tape over her mouth and Adrian's hand. She began to hit Adrian in the stomach with her handcuffed hands. The blows did not hurt him but they made some noise so Adrian slipped his left arm between Kaitlyn's bound arms and back and pulled her tightly to him, stopping her from hitting him and making too much noise. The soldiers above them did not seem to notice them, perhaps they were just standing guard Adrian thought. They did not seem to have heard the noise because they were just standing there, talking casually. Though Adrian could not hear what they were talking about they both spoke with that deep, artificial sounding voice the rest of the soldiers and guards he encountered talked with.

Though Kaitlyn still struggled, as long as Adrian held her tightly and added to the tape gag with his hand she wasn't causing too much noise. As he held her he suddenly realized how beautiful she was. He had noticed her stunning facial features in the interrogation room, such as the jet black hair and button nose, but now he finally took the notice of the rest of her body. She was slim but appeared to be in good shape with some small but toned muscles. She had long legs and her chest seemed to grow as she breathed so heavily. Her breasts were large and supple. Adrian was just starting to admire her soft, bodacious buttocks when suddenly, Kaitlyn, as if she knew he was looking over her grabbed his testicles and squeezed tightly.

Adrian almost cried out in shock and pain but he barely managed to hold it back. The pain was terrible, it felt as if a vice was crushing his crotch. His face twisted and contorted but he still held her tight, desperately not wanting her to give them away. Finally, Chang took notice of what was going on and drew his pistol, shoving it up to her head.

"Let go," Chang whispered softly but in a harsh tone as he jammed the gun to head. Kaitlyn finally released his crotch and Adrian let out a sigh of relief. The pain was still there but it was slowly subsiding. He pulled her against him tightly and squeezed tighter with his hand over her mouth. Kaitlyn managed to let out a near silent whelp of pain but she suddenly stopped her struggling as Chang pressed the pistol to her head harder. Between the hand over her mouth and the gun to her head, Kaitlyn was in excruciating pain which Adrian took notice of due to lack of struggling but he took no care of it. The pain she had just caused him was something she could not experience. Kaitlyn finally gave up and just slumped over in Adrian's arms. She became a dead weight that Adrian had to hold up himself. Seeing that the girl had given up Chang holstered his sidearm.

Though she had given up, Adrian was surprised in Kaitlyn's resilience and refusal to give up without a fight. Even though Adrian had no idea where he was or what was going on he knew she was his enemy; but he was surprised that he did not hate her and was actually glad to have met someone with her character. His attention was directed toward the soldiers above when one bended down and began tying his undone boot strings. As he was tying his boots Adrian thought he had seen them. The soldier had stopped tying his boot and was looking through the iron grate intently. Though sunlight pierced the sewer through the grate there was enough shadow to hide Adrian and the group from any passing person. However, this soldier was looking directly into the sewer and scanning it intensely. Adrian froze, he still held Kaitlyn but she seemed to not take notice to the soldier above. He hoped the soldier would not see them and when he sat there for over a minute looking into the sewer Adrian knew he couldn't have seen them. He couldn't have been more wrong.

"Hey! Stay where you are!" the soldier shouted as he raised his gun at them. The other soldier spun around but before either could do anything Chang and Yuri fired long bursts at them. Bullets tore both soldiers legs to pieces. The one who had seen them had his face blown straight off as a burst from Chang's RPD tore through his neck. The other soldier fell back onto the street, his legs were nothing but torn bone and flesh but he was still alive. The gunfire had brought Kaitlyn back to reality, she started to struggle again and was screaming for her life through her gag.

"Captain," the wounded soldier said faintly into his radio, "I'm hit, need back up."

"Roger, we're on our way," said a voice on the other end of the radio.

Collins got up and yelled, "Come on! Let's go!"

He started to run down the sewer as the rest followed. Adrian hoisted Kaitlyn over his shoulder and ran as fast as he could. When they finally came to a point several yards down where the iron gate was replaced by the stone ceiling he heard the grate open behind them. He looked back to see a large sack fall into the sewer.

"Satchel charge," Adrian shouted as he fell to ground, covering Kaitlyn with his body. The rest of the group dropped to the ground but before Randall made it the way down the charge exploded. A piece of shrapnel lodged itself into Randall's neck as blood spewed from his jugular. A flying shard of stone pierced Adrian's left leg. He wanted to check it out but he knew he had to keep going. He got up with the rest of the team and continued running. He heard another splash and a burst of gunfire. He looked back to see a soldier lying in the water, turning it red. Chang had shot him when he dropped in. A rifle appeared in the sewer from the opening and began firing. Bullets ricocheted off the walls but Adrian kept on running, Chang close behind him.

They had ran for another two-hundred yards before he realized there was no one pursuing them. Collins had stopped at a dead end. Adrian thought they were trapped, but Collins took out his flashlight and shined it onto the wall revealing another iron door. It was then that Adrian heard a metallic clang behind them. It disappeared but several seconds later he heard it again. It sounded like a buzz saw cutting against a stone wall.

"What is that?" Adrian asked.

"Manhacks!" Chang said, "Collins, hurry up, open the hatch."

"Dammit, it's fuckin' jammed. Cover me, I gotta cut through the bolts," he shouted as he pulled out as small electric drill.

"Shepard," Chang said, "put that bitch down, I'm gonna need your help."

"We can't leave her," Adrian responded.

"Just do it and get ready," he said. The appearance of a dozen red lights and sparks down the sewer told him he should do so. He put Kaitlyn down and readied his weapon. Before he could see what was making the lights and sparks Chang began firing. Adrian and Yuri followed suit as Yurkevich helped Collins with the door. Several of the lights disappeared when they consumed by small explosions. Adrian's gun clicked indicating it out of ammunition. He began reloading, when he looked back up he saw one of the red lights coming straight at his face. He dropped to the ground as the object flew over his head. He got up and turned around to see Yurkevich's chest torn open. His blood drenched Collins, covering most of his body with Boris' blood.

Floating above Boris' body was a metal cylinder with a red "eye" about the size of an adult's head. Spinning around the floating cylinder were two metal saws about a foot long apiece. This flying saw had hacked Yurkevich apart. The manhack turned toward Collins but before it could attack him Adrian blew it to pieces with several well aimed bursts at it. Chang and Yuri were still firing so he turned around he provided support for them. When his clip ran empty the remaining manhacks were destroyed.

"What the hell are those things?" Adrian asked.

"Manhacks," said Chang, "the Combine deploy them in sewers in order to disrupt our movements."

"Listen," Adrian said angrily, "I know now is not the time but when we get the fuck to some safe place I want to know exactly what the fuck is going on"

"Yeah. Sure." Chang responded, obviously startled by Adrian's tone. A metallic crack behind them turned their attention back to Collins.

"Okay, I got this open. Let's move out," Collins said as he opened the hatch, flooding the sewer with sunlight that blinded Adrian. Collins, Yuri, and Chang went through the opening so Adrian picked up Kaitlyn, who was still struggling and walked out of the tunnel, disappearing into the light.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Ravenholm

Adrian emerged from the sewer into an empty canal. Collins, Chang, and Yuri were kneeling behind the wreckage of a small boat so he sprinted toward them with Kaitlyn over his shoulder. When he reached them he sat Kaitlyn up against the wreckage and took cover next to her. He looked at her to make sure she was alright but she shot him a look of anger and malice so he backed off, confident she was fine. He turned toward the group to ask what they were waiting for.

"Collins, what are we waiting for?" asked Shepard.

"This is one of our secondary extraction points," answered Collins, "a ride should be here any time now to pick us up." Just as he said that a burst of machinegun fire caught their attention. Shepard looked up at a path leading off a bridge into the canal being traversed by a small car, a truck with a mounted machinegun, and an armored car that resembled an old World War I style assault vehicle. The vehicle was covered in a dull gray metal with a small cockpit sporting a machinegun about in the middle of the structure. A soldier was inside the cockpit firing at the vehicles ahead of it. The truck was returning fire but the bullets seemed to bounce off the armored car. The gunner on the truck was suddenly struck by several bullets and was thrown from the truck only to be ran over by the pursuing vehicle.

Without a word, Chang came out from behind the wreckage and fired a rocket from his RPG at the Combine vehicle. The missile hit right above the left front tire. The ensuing explosion blew the front axle to pieces and the car went straight into the canal wall. Several soldiers poured out of the rear door only to be gunned down by Chang's steady, well aimed machinegun fire.

The car and truck pulled up to the small group of rebels. The drivers motioned for them to get in.

"Chang, get in the car," Collins ordered, "Yuri and Shepard, get in the truck, hurry." Just as he finished Adrian saw two more armored cars coming down the path straight toward them. Collins and Chang got in the sedan as Yuri got in the passenger seat of the truck. Adrian picked up Kaitlyn and lifted her into the trunk of the truck. Adrian then jumped in with her just as the driver hit the accelerator and the truck took off. Their pursuers were only about thirty yards behind them and the gunners were shooting at them. Bullets were striking the truck but they were for the most part inaccurate. The bumpy surface of the canal was throwing off the gunners' aim.

"Adrian!" Yuri shouted from inside the truck, "shoot back, dammit," Shepard nodded and slowly stood up to man the machinegun. It was an M-60, an old American light machinegun propped on a five foot pole. There was a belt that the gunner could wear in order to stand on the truck without falling off but it had been shot to pieces when the original gunner was killed. Adrian finally managed to take hold of the gun, cocked it, and fired back at his pursuers. He aimed at the armored cars' cockpit turrets but the glass was seemed to be bullet proof when bullets bounced off that as well. Without warning the truck turned hard to the right. They had barely missed the wreckage of a large truck but the lead armored car wasn't so lucky. It tried to swerve out of the way but it smashed into the side of the wreckage. It spun around only to be struck by the by the vehicle behind it.

The lead car turned onto a path leading onto another bridge as the truck followed. They crossed the bridge into a large forest. If the armored cars were able to recover they must have lost them. They continued through the forest when Adrian sawthey were coming up onto an old, decrypted town that appeared to be abandoned.

"Adrian," said Yuri from inside, "we're coming up on Ravenholm. Be on your guard, this town is infested with zombies." Adrian didn't really know what he meant until they drove past a small group of creatures. These creatures wore civilian clothing, but they had long arms with five clawed finger and even more startling was a small, white sack with four legs covering their heads. These were the same creatures Adrian had encountered at Black Mesa. Those creatures were human, but were infected by the headcrabs on the faces and slowly turned into zombies. They were slow, stupid, and posed no threat while they were riding in the truck so Adrian did not shot them.

"Creepers!" Yuri yelled. Adrian turned to see a dozen creatures sprinting at them. These things were infected by the head crabs apparent from them on their faces. But their skin was gone, revealing their muscles and bones. They looked more like jackals as they raced on all fours toward the truck. Adrian pulled the trigger of the M-60 and began firing in one long, continuous stream bullets. Several of these creepers were torn apart but they others kept coming, even if they had been shot several times.

One jumped on top of the car but Chang shot it off with his RPD. Three jumped toward the truck but Yuri and Adrian were able to kill them. Just as the driver of the car thought they were all dead another appeared right in front of the car. He swerved around at as it tried to leap onto the car. The creeper missed but saw the truck coming straight for it. It jumped at the truck but missed the hood and went straight through the windshield, landing on top of the driver. He lost control of the truck and went straight into a tree. Adrian crashed into the passenger section of the truck as Kaitlyn landed on top of him, knocking the wind out of him. The creeper slashed at the driver, cutting his throat open with one of its claws. It continued to hack at the man until Yuri emptied an entire clip into the beast, killing it.

"Turn around," Chang ordered the driver, "we've gotta help them."

"No," said Collins, "if we go back we won't be able to help. We'll all die. You know the risks when traveling in and around Ravenholm," he said in a soft, sad voice. He did not like to do this but he had no choice. So the driver continued on, heading for Black Mesa East.

Adrian gently lifted Kaitlyn off him. She has small cut on her head but no other visible wounds.

"Are you okay?" Adrian asked. She nodded yes and looked into his eyes. Her bright blues eyes showed only distress, as if they were asking him to let her go. Adrian wanted to give in and release her. He felt a great attraction toward her, not just because of her beauty but the way she able to portray her characteristics while bound and gagged. She was a resilient girl, about the same age as Adrian but she was filled with fight and did not easily give up. He even he wanted to untie her and imagined being her knight in shining armor but he decided against it. She was still their prisoner and she did threaten him with torture before his interrogation. He hopped out of the trunk and went to see if Yuri was fine. He got out of the truck and appeared to be unhurt.

"Are you okay?" Adrian asked.

"Yeah," he responded, "the driver's dead though. We gotta get moving before anymore zombies show up."

"Wait, what were those creepers?"

"They're like other zombies but they were infected by a different kind of headcrab, one that moves fast, causing its host to move like a predator." This filled Adrian with dread. Not only was this place filled with zombies and headcrabs but these creepers as well.

"We can't take her with us," Yuri said pointing at Kaitlyn, "we have to leave her."

"No, she comes with us."

"Fine, but if she holds you up I'm not waiting for you," Yuri said angrily.

"She won't hold me up," Adrian said as he went to her and drew his combat knife. Her eyes filled with fear as she anticipated what was about to happen. Instead of having her throat slit the tape binding her feet was cut. Adrian then ripped the duct tape off her mouth as she yelped from the pain.

"If I take the cuffs off and arm you…" Adrian was cut off by Yuri.

"You can't arm her," he cried.

"Shut up!" Adrian snapped. "If I arm you will you follow us and do everything we tell you."

"Yes," she whispered in a soft but scared, innocent voice.

"You better, because I don't think you can survive out here without us," said Adrian. She nodded in agreement.

"Good. Yuri, you have any keys." He shook his head no.

"Dammit." Adrian said as he lifted Kaitlyn out of the trunk.

"Kaitlyn," Adrian said, "I need you to turn around, spread your hands as far apart as possible, and don't move," he said as he took out his pistol. She nodded but she was very frightened. She turned around but she couldn't stop shaking. Adrian moved to her side, pointed the gun down and away from her and fired. The chain blew apart, freeing her hands. She began rubbing her wrists but stopped when Adrian handed the pistol to her. She took it and the two extra clips Adrian provided for her.

"You know how to use this?"

"Yes," she said.

"Good," Adrian said, "Yuri, where should we go?"

"This way," he said angrily, obviously not comfortable with an armed Combine following them. "We have to get to Black Mesa East. It's entrance is on the other side of the town, about a mile or two. We should be able to avoid the zombies, but watch out for creepers."

He lead them down a dark alley that led to a separate street. They walked along the street, staying close to the buildings. They would occasionally see a zombie or a head crab but they were able to either sneak by them or just run past them. At one point they encountered a pair of fast headcrabs but Yuri dispatched them before they got too close. Yuri was right, thought Shepard, these headcrabs can run quickly and jump far. They appear to have the same muscle strength as a grown man.

"What happened here Yuri? Why is this place infested with these zombies?" asked Adrian.

"Why don't you ask her," Yuri said, motioning toward Kaitlyn.

"Kaitlyn?" Adrian asked.

"About two years ago, we discovered that Ravenholm was harboring a large contingent of rebel troops. So we attacked it, but I had no idea this is what they did," she said sadly.

"Bullshit," responded Yuri, "you and your Combine not only killed soldiers but hundreds of innocent people living here by bombing this place with shells full of headcrabs. You're all murderers."

"I said I didn't know Yuri," she said, "I'm no killer."

"Okay, I believe you," Yuri said sarcastically. Kaitlyn just looked down. It appeared she wanted to cry, maybe she wasn't a killer and didn't know about this, Adrian thought.

He finally decided to speak, "Kaitlyn," she looked up at him, "how did you get involved with the Combine if you don't mind me asking? You don't appear to be someone who would join them willingly."

She let a small smile part her lips, revealing straight, white teeth. She liked this man, she thought. Even though she was his prisoner he was always kind to her. When she had squeezed his testicles in order to get free he did not harm her after Chang had forced her to let go.

"I used to live in America; Tampa Bay, Florida actually. Six years ago my family was moved from City-4 on the East Coast to here. I had to leave everything behind, I was only fourteen," she said, her voice hinted a tone of sorrow. "Three years ago my parents were arrested and taken to the Citadel because they helped supply the rebels. My older brother, Mike, was taken to join the Overwatch. They took me and made me a secretary for an administrator of a C.P. station. Then, four months ago they made me an interrogator. Those years I worked for them I was indoctrinated with their propaganda. I accepted it but always had trouble believing it."

She stopped speaking, Adrian looked upon her with sadness. Her entire family was taken away from her. He didn't care what Yuri thought, this woman was good. She was just blinded by the real enemy. His attraction for her increased, most likely from the pity he felt for her. She reminded him of his old high school girlfriend but Kaityln had more character to her he discovered in the past few hours he was with her than his old sweetheart had in the years he knew her. He was brought back to reality when she began speaking again.

"Now I know what the Combine truly is," Kaitlyn said, "they said they were protecting us from these creatures. But they're just using them against us. This town proves it," she said adamantly. Yuri looked at her differently, it appeared he was beginning to respect her Adrian thought.

He was about to speak when a hand smashed through a door and pulled Adrian inside. He was thrown to the ground, surrounded by five zombies. One grunted and swung its clawed hands at Shepard. Before they could find their target Yuri had burst in and fired until his MP-7 ran out of ammo. One was still alive so he pulled out his sidearm and killed it with a double tap to the head. He offered Adrian a hand and helped him to his feet. When he got up Adrian noticed that Kaitlyn was missing.

"Where's Kaitlyn?" Adrian asked. Yuri looked around before answering.

"That bitch ran off. I told you not to untie her. Now she's gonna go back and tell the Combine where they can find our base." Adrian knew he was right, he shouldn't have let her go. How could he have fallen for her story. He had always been a sucker for a beautiful woman but he had never been tricked by one this seriously. Suddenly, two more zombies burst out of a dark room and went straight for them. Yuri fired but his pistol jammed. While he frantically tried to fix his weapon Adrian realized his gun was behind the two zombies. They were standing off to the side of the room and were now cornered by the creatures. Yuri was not going to be able to reload in time and to fight them hand to hand would be suicide. He knew they were doomed.

Two shots rang out and both zombies heads burst apart. Adrian could see a figure covered in shadow walk down the stairs on the other end of the room. When the figure descended the stairs the shadow was lifted to reveal its identity. Standing before them was a short, bald, middle-aged man. His facewas covered in an unkempt black beard and moustache, his clothes resembled that of an Orthodox priest. He was wearing a dull black coat, faded, torn gray pants, and old red sneakers. In his hands rested a Winchester rifle. His eyes were brown and seemed full of sadness and regret. Large dark blue bags were forming just beneath his dark eyes.

"You two should be more careful here, my brothers," he said in a Russian accent, "I am Father Grigori. Why have you come to disturb my flock. Cannot yousee their true faces, they must be redeemed."

Yuri was speechless but Adrian managed to speak, "My name is Adrian Shepard, this is my friend, Yuri Olev. We're just trying to get to Black Mesa East. Do you know where that is?" he asked only to receive a sharp look from Yuri for revealing their destination.

"Yes, yes, I know where and what you seek. However, wolves shouldn'ytrouble the flock when the shepherd is near. The ones where you seek know this. That makes you the wolves of the Tower. Ha ha hahaha," he laughed. Adrian knew this man was crazy but what was worse was he thought they were the Combine. The Tower he is referring to must be the Citadel.

"No, we are not…" Adrian was cut off by the priest.

"Silence, you have sent my flock's souls into purgatory. As their shepherd it is my duty to redeem them…as well as purifying their grazing field of demons," he said as he raised his rifle at them, "Goodbye my fellow brethren. May your souls by redeemed by God."

From behind him, Grigori heard a click and then felt a cold barrel placed on the back of his head.

"Drop the gun, Father," said a feminine voice, "and step forward." The priest stepped forward and from the shadows emerged Kaitlyn, pointing her gun at Grigori.

"Are you guys alright," she said to Adrian and Yuri.

"Yes. Where the hell did you go," shouted Yuri.

"Oh, sorry. When we were attacked another tried to grab me from a window so I ducked inside the house next door. There were several of them in there so I had to sneak out without them noticing. Sorry about that," she said with a weak smile on her face.

"Don't worry. Thanks to you we're good," said Adrian, "Father Grigori," he said stepping up to the priest, "we are not the Combine. We are not here to hurt you or your flock. If you could guide us to Black Mesa East we would be very grateful."

The priest turned to look at Kaitlyn and smiled, "How could I refusethose whoare in the company of one of God's most beautiful creatures. Very well, I will show you the way. Perhaps you can help me redeem this town along the way." Adrian nodded in agreement wondering what this crazy priest was talking about.

"Follow me my brothers. Let us make haste. The flock has grown unruly as of late." Holding his rifle he walked out the door followed by Yuri, Adrian, and Kaitlyn.

"Thanks," Adrian said to Kaitlyn as they were following the priest.

"Oh, yea, no problem," she said, seemingly embarrassed.

"What's wrong?"

"I don't know. Just, everything is changing for me right now. At times I did believe everything would turn out okay with the Combine. So much has changed in the past few hours," she said. It was obvious that she was overcome with grief for being apart of something Adrian had little knowledge of but knew they were only causing death and destruction.

"Listen Kaitlyn," Adrian said not knowing where he was going to go with this, "I'm sorry if I hurt or scared you at all…I think you're a good person. Don't worry about what Yuri thinks of you because I think you are doing the right thing. And when we meet up with these rebels I'm sure they will forgive." She looked up at him and smiled, happy to know someone cared about her.

God she was beautiful he thought. Her eyes were like blue oceans, her hair was as dark as night, her lips were full and luscious; her entire body was beautiful. Adrian pictured her naked in his mind and smiled.

"What's so funny?" she asked.

"Oh, nothing. I just never thought I would be talking to a beautiful woman in a situation like this," he lied. He kicked himself mentally. What a terrible thing to say he thought. She won't go for something like that. She may be young but not stupid.

"Why thank you," she said, surprising Adrian, "You know, you're a very nice guy. I haven't met very many people like you since all of this began."

"That's probably because I wasn't around for all this," he said.

She looked at him curiously, "What do you mean, Adrian."

"I'll explain when we get to this Black Mesa East," he said. Then it suddenly struck him. Black Mesa East. Black Mesa was where these creatures first appeared. This had to be connected somehow he thought. He was pulled back to reality when he heard a sharp crack of a rifle.

"Haha, another redeemed," Father Grigori said referring to the dead creeper lying several yards ahead of him. "You must tread lightly here my friends. We are close but many impure souls lie ahead."

They walked along the street for another three-hundred yards until they came upon an a clearing. There were houses on each side of the field but at the end, about a hundred yards away was a small, rundown shack separate from the other buildings.

"That shack will lead away from this forsaken place. I must stay however as God's instrument. For I am bound to this place 'till he sets foot upon this place himself. Now go my…"

He was cut off by several loud screeching moans. Atop the roofs appeared dozens of creepers. Behind them a large group of zombies gathered, coming straight for them.

"Hurry my friends," Father Grigori shouted as he began running toward the shack. The others followed but Kaitlyn was having trouble keeping up because she still had her four-inch heels on. They were strapped heels so she could not just pull them off. Adrian, Yuri, and the priest quickly reached the shack but Kaitlyn was only two-thirds of the way there. Several creepers were quickly gaining on her.

"Kaitlyn, hurry!" shouted Shepard. Grigori came up and shot three of them dead with three shots. Yuri looked upon him, astonished that a priest could be such a good shot.

He noticed Yuri was looking at him and with a strange yet humorous expression upon his face he said, "God is my hands, child. Perhaps I should let him be yours. Ha ha ha," he let out his loud laugh of a lunatic. Kaitlyn finally caught up with them as Adrian and Grigori killed a dozen more creepers. They went into the shack to find a small manhole with a ladder leading down a deep pit.

"Do not worry, this does not lead to hell my brothers," said the priest, "Now go, reach your salvation. God will protect you now."

"Aren't you coming?" asked Yuri.

"I cannot. I must tend to my flock," he answered. Yuri went down first followed by Kaitlyn. Adrian went up to the priest as the dozens of zombies slowly got closer to them.

"Thank you Father Grigori," Shepard said.

"Do not thank me, thank God," responded the crazy priest as he ran toward the swarm of zombies, shooting them as he went.

Adrian crawled down the ladder hearing Grigori scream, "I am coming my children. It is time for the shepherd to purify your souls," followed by several gunshots and his psychotic laugh.

The pit was at least fifty yards deep and when he finally got to the bottom he landed in shallow, sludge filled water. Several dead zombies and creepers lay still in the water. When he turned he saw Yuri and Kaitlyn facing a wall with their hands up. The wall they faced had two machineguns mounted to it. They must have been commanded remotely with a camera because they both pointed to him when he stepped toward his two companions.

"Hold it," a deep voice said, "Put your hands up and identify yourself."

Adrian placed his hands on his head and said, "Corporal Adrian Shepard, 81st Hazardous Environment Combat Regiment, United States Marine Corps."

"Kaitlyn O'Rourke," she said without revealing her connection to the Combine.

"Private Yuri Olev of outpost Point Mesa," Yuri said. They got no response and the guns still held them in their sights. After several excruciating moments several figures rounded the corner to the left of the guns.

"I'm glad to see you all made it here okay," said Collins, accompanied by Chang and several other rebel soldiers. Adrian smiled in relief. It was good to know that he and Kaitlyn were safe for the time being.

"Miss O'Rourke," Collins said as he stepped up to her, "please give me your weapon and turn around." She handed him the pistol and slowly turned around, looking at Adrian with a scared expression on her face. Collins grabbed her arms and handcuffed them together and led her off, turning the corner and disappearing from sight. Adrian only looked on in fear and regret. They still viewed her as a Combine, he thought, but they'll figure out the truth about her.

"Shepard, good to see that you made it. Yuri, these men will lead you to a debrief, follow them," Chang said as Yuri complied, "Shepard, follow me." Adrian followed him as he rounded the corner. They walked for another hundred yards till they reached the end of the tunnel. When he left the tunnel a large steel door closed, sealing the base off from Ravenholm. He continued to follow Chang through this underground complex. It appeared to be a large military bunker. They came up to a small iron door which Chang opened. They entered the room and Adrian felt uneasy. It was a small concrete room with a wooden table and a wooden chair on one side and two others on the other side. Chang beckoned him to sit down and Adrian followed his instruction.

"I need your weapons," Chang said. Adrian reluctantly gave up all his weapons and then Chang left the room, closed the door and locked it, sealing Adrian inside. Several minutes went by as Adrian began to feel more uncomfortable. This was exactly how his interrogation at the Combine headquarters started except there was no guard in this room. He began to feel as if these rebels were just as cruel as the Combine.

He heard the lock snap and the door squeak open as two men came in the room. One was Collins and another was an aging but tall, black man. His hair was gray but his beard was black but graying in several spots. His right leg below his knee was missing, only to be replaced a metal prosthetic limb. He was wearing khaki pants, a Harvard sweater, and an old, tattered green vest over it. He sat down in the chair opposite Adrian and looked at him with a look of hate in his eyes.

"Hello Corporal Shepard," he said with a hint of malice on his voice, "I don't know if you remember me. I'm Dr. Eli Vance originally of the Black Mesa Research Facility. Let's talk."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: A New Career

The room was small and dark, only a small lamp dangling from the ceiling provided a small amount of light. The lamp was only able to grasp the small wooden table and two chairs with its light. A small figure was slumped in one of the chairs, surrounded by darkness. She had no idea what was going to happen to her. Her mind told her she would be fine but a small voice from within her told her otherwise.

Kaitlyn had no idea what the Resistance was going to do to her. After finally realizing the true, evil nature of the Combine she envisioned the rebels as passionate freedom fighters. Her current state made her feel otherwise toward them. During her time in Ravenholm with Adrian and Yuri, she learned much about not only the Resistance and the Combine, but also herself. She had always viewed herself as a brave, strong-willed woman but while she was the rebels' prisoner her feelings about herself changed. She learned that she was vulnerable and at times needed the protection of others. She did not view herself as a damsel in distress, but as any other normal person. One who needs help from time to time.

Light flooded into the room as the old, rusty door squeaked open, blinding her. A silhouette appeared before her, its figure draped in shadow. The door closed behind the figure, the blinding light disappeared, revealing her visitor.

Before her stood a young woman; she stood at about 5'7, roughly the same height as herself, she had a mocha colored skin tone, short black hair held back by a head band, and large brown eyes. She was wearing brown hiking boots, blue jeans, a small gray hooded sweatshirt with a black symbol in its center slightly covered by an old, worn brown leather jacket. Around her neck was a small necklace with some sort of ordinary-looking stone in it. She sat down in the chair opposite Kaitlyn and gave her cold almost icy stare.

"Kaitlyn O'Rourke, I presume?" she said in a very feminine but hostile voice.

"Yes," she replied.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Excuse me," she said, confused by the question.

"What are you doing here?" she repeated the question in a more hostile manner, her squinting eyes shot her a deathly glare.

"I was captured by rebel soldiers at Civil Protection Station Alpha-Two in City-17," when the woman did not respond she continued, "I was taken to a vehicle and we were coming here when we were forced to go on foot through Ravenholm. A Father Grigori showed us the entrance to the base. That is when you picked us up: Me, Adrian, and Yuri."

"Why did our soldiers take you prisoner, Miss. O'Rourke?" the woman asked.

"I used to work as a secretary for an administrator at the station. A few months ago they made me an interrogator. I was questioning Adrian when you attacked. I was taken prisoner along with several other of my colleagues," Kaitlyn answered.

She woman across the table glared at her. Her gaze seemed to pierce right through her flesh and see into her mind. She could tell this woman obviously despised her; she did have every right to do so. Kaityln was a part of something slowly killing this world. Only now did she finally grasp the reality of it all. She had always heard rumors on the streets of the city about mass murders and abuse of the planet's resources at an alarming level but she had dismissed as nothing more than rebel lies. Now she realized that that they were all probably true.

"So," she woman finally answered, "how many have you tortured or killed?"

Kaitlyn was appalled by this question, she had never ordered anyone killed and only once did she have to order a soldier to beat a prisoner a few times.

"I've never killed or had anyone killed. I once had to have a man beaten but not badly."

"Bullshit," the woman snapped.

"It's true," Kaitlyn found herself shouting in anger, stunning the woman. She quickly regained her composure and continued, "Most prisoners go to Nova Prospekt, the other stations, or straight to the Citadel. The station I worked at was a police headquarters. We only hold detainees till the are to be moved elsewhere."

'Really?" the woman asked, fully recovered from the shock of Kaitlyn's outburst, "then why did your station have over thirty prisoners. The Combine is very punctual I'm told. Wouldn't the prisoners have already been moved 'elsewhere'," she said the last word coldly.

"We had just conducted several major raids. They were recently captured and going through processing," Kaitlyn responded just as coldly, trying to intimidate her captor.

The woman just stared at her as an evil smile crept onto her face, "Oh really, according to an informant you were going to interrogate Adrian Shepard. Wouldn't an important person such as himself be questioned be someone with more…authority," she said, smirking at her own last statement.

"What do you mean?" asked Kaitlyn.

"You do know Adrian was one of the marines who was at the Black Mesa incident?"

"Yes, I do," Kaitlyn responded, "what is so important about that?"

"Have you noticed anything strange about him?" the woman asked.

"No, not really."

"When he was at Black Mesa, he was twenty-one at the time. It's been twelve years since then. How old does he look now?" she asked queerly.

"About the same age," Kaitlyn answered. Then it hit her like a brick wall. Adrian did say he had not been around for all this, she did not know exactly what he meant but ideas were racing through her head.

"He did say he was not around for this when it began," Kaitlyn said warily.

"What do you think he meant by that?" asked the woman.

"I don't know," was all could say.

The doctor sat across from Adrian. He hoped this man was more of a scientist than an actual medical doctor. A doctor like that would only be in a room like this for one reason Adrian fearfully thought. After all, this man had been at Black Mesa and he no doubt blamed Adrian and his fellow marines for the death of many of his friends and colleagues.

"So, Shepard," the Dr. Vance said, "what are you doing in Eastern Europe? And why are you wearing that uniform?"

"Let me begin with what I do know, sir," Adrian began as Eli gave him a suspicious look, "this is the uniform of my unit, the 81st Hazardous Environment Combat Regiment. Uh, that's about it, that's all I know," he answered hesitantly.

"So, you were at Black Mesa, were you not Corporal?"

"Yes, I was," answered Adrian, "my company, Foxtrot, was the last unit to arrive. My chopper was hit and crash landed before I had received my orders."

Eli's eyes squinted in suspicion. I obviously did not believe Adrian. Many of his friends were gunned down by the troops at Black Mesa. His own wife, Azian, was executed along with several of her colleagues before Eli could reach her. He had managed to reach his young daughter, Alyx, the only thing he was able to get out of the disaster.

"You certainly heard rumors about your mission beforehand, I'm sure," Vance asked, no emotion present in his voice.  
"There were many rumors going around. The most believable was that there was some sort of biological contamination and we were sent to help evacuate. We had been training for several weeks in urban and indoor combat, so someone must have seen something like the incident coming," Adrian sighed, then continued, "I guess a biological contamination rumor was somewhat true," he managed to let out a small, forced chuckle.

The doctor's eyes narrowed, revealing a face of hatred, "I guess so, Adrian. But tell me, were there any rumors about assassination, government cover-ups, or anything of the sorts?"

Adrian was shocked, what did this man mean, "No. There wasn't. Look Dr. Vance, I have no idea what the fuck I'm doing here. I didn't even no I was in Eastern Europe. I don't anything about this Combine or your resistance. All I know is that those things, those creatures from Black Mesa are all over the place," he said loudly, anger in his voice.

He managed to cool down as Eli looked upon him with surprise and pity. It was obvious he had believed Adrian.

"How long has it been since then? Since Black Mesa?" Adrian asked.

Eli hesitated for several long moments and then, with a low, sad voice said two words, "Twelve years."

The world came crashing down on Adrian. Twelve years. Twelve years of his life gone, stuck in that black void. He was thirty-two years old, yet still felt twenty. The whole world had changed Adrian thought. His friends were probably all gone, killed by the swarm of creatures from Black Mesa. He finally broke down. Tears poured from his eyes as he hid them in his hands.

Eli and Collins did nothing to disturb Adrian. It was clear this man was telling the truth. Eli did not want to hurt this man any further. Adrian had to have told the truth about Black Mesa, no cold blooded murderer would have the same sort of emotions as he had when his wife was killed.

"William," he said softly to Collins. He came up to Eli, leaning toward him. He whispered into his ear for several moments and then quickly left the room. Leaving Eli alone with this weeping marine.

Kaitlyn still sat there, motionless. Her hands bound behind the chair by the cold steel around her wrists. She just stared in to the eyes of her beautiful captor. Ironic, she thought, the interrogator becomes the one questioned. As for what had been asked, she could not answer. What did Adrian mean by not be around for all this? Did he mean the Combine takeover, the start of the resistance? And where did he go if he was he was not here. He must have been at Black Mesa because of the uniform he wore. He must've known about the alien creatures swarming throughout the world. More questions flooded her mind, as her interrogator remained quiet, seemingly waiting for someone. Did Adrian know of the portal storms, Earth's first encounter with the Combine, the Seven Hours' War, Breen's peace treaty?

The old, rusty door creaked opened as light flooded the room, blinding Kaitlyn. She saw a figure come in, whisper something into the interrogators hear and then leave. The woman looked up and stared at her prisoner.

"Miss O'Rourke," she said in a friendly tone, "it appears Adrian doesn't know what occurred after the Black Mesa incident. Do you know why?"

"No," she looked up warily, "no, I don't."

Adrian's bout of tears and sadness was fading, only a few inane whimpers escaped him. When it appeared he had finally recovered, Eli renewed his questioning.

"Adrian, can you tell me what happened when you reached Black Mesa. I need to know everything," he said assertively.

Adrian snorted, clearing his throat and then began his tale. He recounted his crash landing caused by a strange aircraft. His rescue by the facilities scientists and guards. The regiment's withdrawal without him. The aerial bombardments and the Black Ops assassins. His sighting of a man in a black and orange suit disappearing into a portal and his subsequent teleportation to an unknown, alien environment. His defusing of a nuclear weapon and its reactivation by a man in a blue suit. His showdown against a giant, lizard-snake type hybrid creature. His meeting with the man in the blue suit, the g-man. Black Mesa's destruction by a nuclear blast. Without telling Eli of the black void from fear of disbelief, he lied, saying he passed out and then awoke on the beach; not that that was very believable on its own. His capture by the Combine. His interrogation, rescue, Ravenholm, and finally reaching Black Mesa East. He included their capture of Kaitlyn and her apparent change of heart to the resistance.

Eli was fascinated by his tale. It took him well over an hour to finish. His first thought was to further question Kaitlyn about her allegiance. If she joined the resistance she would willingly provide them with important intelligence. Then he thought about the man in the blue suit, the g-man as Adrian called him. He had seen someone resembling Adrian's description at Black Mesa several times throughout the days leading up to the incident. Adrian's sudden disappearance and reappearance perplexed him. Where could he have gone? If he was in an induced coma for twelve years he could not have been in the superb shape as he was in now. What further confused him was that he still looked like a young man around the age of twenty-one. He did not carry the cares that burdened many people these days due to the alien infestation and Combine takeover. No, this man's eyes told a different story. One of confusion, pain, and sorrow.

He seemed to be telling the truth. He never twitched and blinked rapidly during his tale. What he had said was the truth. Adrian was obviously shaken about all of this and Eli thought it best to let him rest. Collins had just returned and stood against the wall behind Eli.

"Adrian," he said softly as the man looked up to him weakly, "William here will take you to a room. It is late and you are tired. Go and get some sleep. Answers will come in the morning." Adrian got up and followed Collins to his room. After he had gone, Eli got up and went to question Kaitlyn himself.

Bang bang bang.

Her interrogator got up and opened the iron door. The light emerged, turning the woman into nothing but a silhouette. Another figure appeared and approached her.

"Alyx," the unknown figure said to the woman, "I need to ask her some questions. Why don't you take a break, okay?"

"Sure, Dad," Kaitlyn heard her say. Her figure disappeared and the new one stepped forward, revealing himself. A tall old, black man with a metal prosthetic left leg stood before her.

"Hello, Kaitlyn," the man said in a deep but friendly voice, "I'm Dr. Eli Vance," followed by a kind smile.

"Tell me, what do you feel toward Adrian?" he asked.

"I'm not sure," she said, slightly perplexed, "he's nice but he seems lost, like he doesn't know where or when he is. It's like he doesn't fit in this world. Yet he seems to know much about it."

"What does he know?"

"Well, he doesn't know anything about the Combine or the resistance. We were both at least to finally see what the Combine truly is. However, he seems to know about these aliens. He was at Black Mesa but neither I or the Combine no where he until yesterday."

"Okay, thank you ma'am," he said kindly, "now let us proceed to your current allegiance. You did say you did not know what the Combine was truly like, and now you say you see for what they truly are. Adrian has expressed this belief as well. Tell me," the man's tone changed to a cold, calculating voice, "would you like to join us. Tell us all you know about the Combine, what they know about us, and so on and so forth?"

"What if I chose not to?"

"We would keep you prisoner and find out what you know in a different manner."

Her eyes widened in fear, thinking of what they would do to her. Eli say this and laughed.

"Oh no my dear," he said warmly, "I do not let torture occur here. I wish I could say the same for many of our other bases," he said the last sentence with a sense of regret.

It did not take her long to come to a choice, "Yes," she said, "I saw what they did to me, my family, their prisoners, and to the people of Ravenholm. I want to inflict the same pain on them," she said angrily, "I will join your cause."

Vance looked at her warily. She did not appear to be lying, but nonetheless, he would remain vigilant. She would be given a polygraph test, along with Adrian. But he believed her. Something in her voice told him so. He let a huge smile spread across his face.

"Excellent," Eli said cheerfully, "William," he called toward the door. The man who had led her and Adrian through the sewers came in the room.

"William here, will escort you to a room. Get some rest. In the morning you will o through a thorough background check and a polygraph test," Eli said. Collins came up to her, placed a large black sack over her head, blinding her and then helped lift her from the chair and guide her out the door. They took several turns and passed several checkpoints guarded by armed rebels. They finally came upon a small iron door. Collins lifted the latch and opened the thick, heavy door. He led her into a large, empty room full of enough beds to house over thirty men. He took the sack off her head and unlocked the cuffs binding her wrists and the ones Adrian had shot apart. She rubbed her chaffed wrists, trying to get the blood circulating again.

"This will be your new home for several days," Collins said, "as you can see it is empty and will remain so while you are here. Clothes will be brought to you in the morning, the ones you are wearing will be washed and returned if you like. There is a bathroom with showers in the back. I suggest you take a long, hot shower and then get some rest. Tomorrow is going to be a long day," with that he left. When he closed the door, Kaitlyn heard it lock, sealing her in here.

There was a towel on one of the beds, so she decided to take a shower. She took off her heels and set them under the bed. The cold floor made her feet shiver. She then took off her jacket, blouse, skirt, and stockings. She finally lifted off her bra revealing nice, firm, supple breasts. Her panties followed soon afterward. She grabbed the towel and took the best shower of her life. After she had finished and dried off, she put her underwear back on and fell into a deep sleep in one if the beds.

She awoke to feeling of something grasping her body. Above her stood three masked figures. She was about to yell out when a long piece of duct tape was stuck over her mouth, muffling her scream. She was flipped onto her stomach as cold, steel handcuffs bound her wrists together. A black sack was placed over her head as she was lifted onto her feet and dragged out of the room.

Blinded by the sack, she had no idea where they were taking her. She would try to keep up at her own pace but her captors were going to fast. She could not sense any change in direction they took because she was still too tired to comprehend what was going on. She heard a door creak open and then she felt hands force her down into a chair. The room and cold metal chair were freezing. Wearing only her bra and panties did not help at all. She felt prying hands all over her body as several cold rubber feeling objects were placed on her arms and chest. A plastic mouth was placed over her right index finger and then the hands vanished. She heard some shuffling followed by the closing of a door. A hand lightly grasped her throat as it slowly lifted the sack covering her face. The hand stopped halfway up as it tore the tape from her mouth, letting the sack fall back down.

"Kaitlyn O'Rourke," a deep voice said, "we are going to ask you some questions. You will only answer 'yes' or 'no'. Do you understand?"

"Yes," she said fearfully.

"Good," the man said, "is your real name Kaitlyn O'Rourke?"

"Yes"

"Were you an interrogator for the Combine at any time?"

"Yes."

"Do you still support the Combine?"

"No."

"Do you wish to join the resistance?"

"Yes."

"Do you believe Adrian Shepard's story?"

"What," she said warily as her voice cracked in fear.  
"Yes or no. Do you believe his story?"

"Yes."

"Why?" a different voice asked. It was deep and raspy.

"I don't know, I just do," she responded.

She heard footsteps stop before her, "Your feelings, see with them many of us can," the strange voice said. It seemed to gurgle at times as the person spoke. The person speaking sounded as if his throat were extremely dry or sore. He may have received a neck wound she thought, perhaps from fighting the Combine.

"We see what you think," the voice continued, "betray you, your thoughts. We can feel you." What did this person mean? How could they know what she thought about Adrian. She hardly knew what her feelings for him consisted of. She knew that he was a kind man, lost in a sea of troubles. Did they believe that she loved him? She had felt no such feelings for him. Only pity, sorrow, and happiness came to mind when she thought about or was near him.

She felt a hand grasp the top of her head, pulling the bag from her head. Before her stood a creature of unimaginable description. Its skin was a light brown with shades of beige on its lower body and hues of faded green spotting its body from the chest upwards. It slumped over, much like a hunchback with a long horizontal neck. Its arms had only three long fingers and its legs bent at two separate positions. Its upper knee was much like a human's but its lower knee was the exact opposite, slightly resembling the rear legs of a horse. In the center of its chest was a foot long arm with three fingers as well. The feet had no toes; it was just a stump with a large, pointed claw several inches long and thick. A large red eyeball with a small yellow pupil covered much of the creature's upper face. Slightly below the eye were large, protruding ears on each side; if that is what they could be called. Its mouth was under its face; small, sharp teeth hung from it.

What stood before her was a Vortigaunt an alien from the Xen, a planet under Combine control. According to rebel lore, the Vortigaunts had been freed when Gordon Freeman, the hero of Black Mesa, was teleported to their planet and destroyed the Nihilanth. Though Kaitlyn did not know if any of it was true. She was never told if these events were true or not. She was sure that several of her superiors knew the truth. Many vortigaunts were teleported to Earth during the portal storms. However, most of them joined humanity and the resistance against the Combine. Several were captured by the enemy and put to some form of work after interrogation. It was said that they could communicate telepathically, known as Vortessence. Perhaps that was why the creature had said to her just moments before.

"Greetings, Kaitlyn," the alien said, "my true name, beyond your speech. You may call myself John." A human stepped up behind the alien, John. He put the black bag over her head again, without gagging her. The attachments were removed from her body as she was lifted from the chair. She was led back through the complex to her cell. When they reached it her bounds were released and the sack removed from her head. She was barley able to see two men leave as the door was shut and latched. Although she had not been physically or sexually abused she fell weeping into her bed. Having her mind pried through and picked apart was a violation of any person. As her tears were soaked in by the soft, white pillow she slowly let sleep overcome her.

Eli Vance, William Collins, the Vortigaunt John, and an aging man dressed in a military uniform entered a small room. They each took a seat around a large circular table. Eli was the first to speak.

"It appears that Kaitlyn is telling the truth," the scientist said, "her polygraph test came out positive."

"See within she was by myself," said John, "truth comes from her mouth."

"I believe it would be best to allow her to join us. She must past a true test of allegiance of course," said Eli. His companions all nodded in agreement.

"But what of Shepard?" Collins asked.

"His polygraph test as well as John's vortessence proved he was telling the truth," said Eli, "but John did say that his mind seemed to be missing something. Regardless, I believe we should let him join us. What do you think General?"

The aging man in the military uniform finally spoke, "His case is different from the other survivors'. However, from what I gathered when I served with him, he should prove to be a great ally. He shall join us if he wishes," said General Theodore Crowe, former commander of the 81st Hazardous Environment Combat Regiment.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Past Regrets and New Beginnings

In a small, clean room laid a tall, aging man. His room was practical for a military man. Beside the man, only a small bed, desk, short dresser, and a closet inhabited the room. Atop his dresser, over two dozen polished rested in a large wooden basket with a glass cover. Accompanying the honors was an American flag, folded into a foot long triangle. The man lying on the bed was in his late fifties, his hair was gray with several long streaks of silver. His eyes were dark brown, offsetting his pale but fair skin. Though he was troubled by many, great burdens, his face did not show the cares he had now.

He lie there, his eyes closed as he recalled the past. His failure at Black Mesa plagued his soul. The consequences of his actions now infected the entire world. Theodore Crowe's mind reached into his past; twelve years ago, to the days leading up to the Black Mesa incident.

A tall, lanky man in a blue suit came into the Crowe's office. He stopped in front of the desk where Colonel Crowe sat in a large leather chair.

"You are Colonel Crowe, _commanding officer_ of the 81st Hazardous Environment Combat Regiment, _are you not_?" asked the man in a soft, raspy voice.

"Can you read the sign on the door and the desk?" asked an annoyed Crowe, occupied by a stack of dispatches on his desk. The man in the suit remained emotionless, seemingly unaffected by the marine's attitude.

"I am here _under _orders. I am to…" the man was cut off by the officer.

"What is your name sir, if you don't mind my asking?" asked Crowe.

"You may call me…_Mr. Myers_," the man said.

"Ah yes, Mr. Myers. You're right on time," the colonel said, impressed but still working on the papers covering his desk.

"Yes, _here_ right on _time_. I am to _inform_ you of…a _change_ of training _procedures_." He said, severely stressing the last sentence.

"Really?" a surprised Crowe asked, "what are my new orders?"

"Your training will _shift_…from jungle warfare to a…_combination_ of desert, urban, and indoor _combat_. Here are your new orders," he handed a large folder to the colonel, "I would _begin_ immediately if…_I _were you. You are on a…_ strict timetable, Colonel Crowe_. Good day, sir," and then turned and left through the door.

What an odd man, Crowe thought. He just came and left, he was a by the book professional. He opened the folder and shuffled through the documents. The regiment was to begin maneuvers in the Mojave Desert in Arizona along with conventional military units such as the 1st and 3rd Marine divisions. There were several large urban environments built by the military about thirty years ago in the area. The 3rd Division was the act as the Opposing Force, attacking three of the urban centers. The 1st Division would try to repel the attack as Crowe's 81st Regiment was to assault the OpFor's command center in the northern most urban center. The war game was to begin in ten days and end four days later.

Crowe picked up his phone and dialed a number, when it was answered he said, "Captain Peterson, this is Colonel Crowe, prepare the regiment for deployment. I'll have the details sent down to you in the next few minutes."

Just one week after the successful war game, the phone in Crowe's office could be heard ringing throughout the floor in the dark, cloudy morning. Crowe was usually the first to work everyday and had just gotten in when his phone stopped ringing. Several seconds after the ringing died it came right back. He set his briefcase down and picked up the phone.

"Colonel Crowe," he said.

"Colonel Crowe!" a voice practically shouted over the phone, "this is General Doug Wallace. We have a situation at the Black Mesa Research Facility in the New Mexico Chihuahuan Desert." Crowe was astounded, as the commander of a special environmental combat unit, he knew several details about the facility. Its existence and location were known facts; it was a civilian controlled research center on the sight of an old military missile base. It was given to the Union Research Combine Corporation by the federal government on the ground that it conducted weapon and research development projects for the military. Very few people, even those that worked there knew what exactly went on at the site. Its security system and taskforce was considered by many to be far superior than that of many U.S. military bases.

"What happened General?" asked Crowe.

"Colonel, this is top secret information coming from the president himself. You and anyone outside of your regiment are not to hear of this. Approximately two hours ago we received a distress signal from the facility. They have been experimenting in teleportation and they have experienced a resonance cascade. This means they have opened a portal to an alien world and creatures have crossed over to the facility, killing the workers. You're to take your regiment to the facility A.S.A.P. Your orders are to eradicate everyone and everything and find a way to close the portal. All witnesses must be killed. I'm sending you a fax of certain scientists and administrators you are to extract. If you fail, we are prepared to nuke the base. When you deploy your troops, act as if you are having a surprise-training mission at the facility. I will take care of all loose ends and make sure word does not spread. Your men are not to get their orders until they are en route to the base. I'm sending all the details now. I will contact you again soon, Colonel Crowe. General Wallace out," the phone clicked and all went silent. Crowe had no idea how to comprehend any of this. None of it made any sense to him. All he could do was do what the general told him. He picked up the phone and called his executive officer.

"Borlan," Crowe said when the phone was answered, "prepare the regiment for deployment in one hour. Then meet me in the briefing room."

Just four hours after Crowe received his orders from General Wallace he was standing in the main security-command complex in the center of the Black Mesa research facility. They had arrived at the facility only an hour and a half ago and already all of the main security, military, and residential complexes as well as several of the main science and research facilities were under their control. Locations such as the Lambda teleportation facility and much of the underground tunnel facility were still being fought over. These aliens fought like nothing Crowe had ever seen before. Some seemed to be nothing more than wild beasts, charging blindly at his troops, only to be slaughtered while much of the alien host fought as trained soldiers. Most of these "soldiers" did not fight as well as his regiment but there were several small groups of behemoth aliens in some sort of armor that would easily slaughter a stray squad.

For the most part however, the aliens were defeated, the main areas held by his troops were heavily defended. As for the extermination of the facilities residents, Crowe could barely order his men to exterminate innocent civilians. He knew their deaths would haunt him forever but he had no choice but to follow his orders. Though he feared for his men, if the facility workers had to be killed than what about his marines who had seen these aliens as well. Even though they had made much progress in the short time they had been at Black Mesa he could not but feel that the regiment as well as himself would be stabbed in the back.

One of his aids shouted out, bringing him back to reality, "Colonel, Slater's company have just reached the underground rail leading into the Lambda sector. They are facing heavy resistance from security forces and alien hosts. Reports from all companies indicate that these creatures are teleporting to the base in much higher numbers. About 4 times more are arriving every hour than when we first arrived and more of the soldier-like aliens are coming through the portals."

"How long before Slater can get inside Lambda?" asked the Colonel, "That is where we can shut down these portals."

"Slater said there are several blast doors sealing the entrance," said Sergeant Paterson, "he said it will take at least an hour to blow threw them all.'

"Tell him he has thirty minutes," said the colonel, "if the alien force grow larger the facility will be lost. We do not have much time. What of those designated for evacuation, have they been extracted yet."

"All but Administrator Breen have been evacuated, he wishes to speak to you," Paterson said. Crowe sighed but agreed to meet the administrator. He had very little time to spare but Breen was considered the most important person to be evacuated according to General Wallace, so he followed Paterson to a small recreational room that had been converted into a medical center. He saw Breen sitting on one of the couches, apparently oblivious to the dying marine's head only inches from his legs. Crowe hated the man already. Before speaking to Breen he confronted Paterson.

"Sergeant," he said, "what is the ETA on Foxtrot Company? They've been overdue for almost an hour."

"There aircraft had some mechanical problems but that has already been fixed. They should be here within twenty minutes," the man said.

"Good. When they arrive, have them assist Slater's company," he said as Paterson saluted and went back to the command center. Crowe turned toward Dr. Breen and motioned him to follow himself. Breen followed and they stood in one of the corners of the room, out of earshot.

"Dr. Wallace Breen," the administrator introduced himself as he held out his hand. Crowe did not take, he only stared into the man's eyes.

"Colonel Crowe, Doctor," he said, a hint of distaste escaped his breath, "what is it you that you needed?"

"I was wondering if the rocket launched earlier today contained a satellite. Did it?" he asked as if he was hoping it did. Crowe continued to look into the man's eyes but could see no deceit.

"Yes, approximately two hours ago a rocket was launched with a satellite onboard. The other two rockets were not tampered with. Why do you ask," he asked suspiciously. Breen hesitated, but his face remained expressionless.

"We need it," he finally said, "in order to create a relay signal that would allow us to open a portal to the alien world, Xen."

"Why in hell would you do that?" asked Crowe in a startled voice.

"Don't worry Colonel, they would not be able to pass through. It is essential that we send a force to Xen in order to take out their portals since it is impossible to do so from here. The scientists in Lambda should have a portal set up soon. You must send your people over in order to end this once and for all," he said. Crowe noticed the scientist fidget slightly at the last comment.

"Very well. Thank you for the information. One of my men will escort you to a chopper ready to evac you," Crowe said, a little less apprehensive about being around this man for revealing this information to him. Though the information itself only troubled him more. Breen nodded and then followed a marine out of the infirmary with a large smile across his face.

Theodore Crowe stood before a group of fifty civilians. Most were technicians but a handful were scientists and guards. Next to Crowe sat a still Humvee equipped with a fifty caliber machinegun. The marine manning the turret gave his commanding officer an uneasy look as he loaded the weapon. Crowe had not watched any of the massacres he had ordered his troops to commit. However, he could not turn his back to these people anymore. He had to see the death he was ordering done at least once. He looked up at the young private manning the turret. He could see the tears forming in his eyes just above the heavy bags under his eyes.

This would be Private Alex Grant's third execution of the day. The two groups he had slaughtered earlier were made up of at least three-hundred men and women. Though the group thirty yards away was much smaller than those before them his heart was still heavy. The screams from the victims before still rang in his head. He knew he would never be able to forget what he had done. He looked toward Colonel Crowe, only to be surprised at the look of pain on his face. Seeing this, tears began to sting his eyes as they slid slowly down his cheek.

Crowe saw the tears on the man's face and had a sudden sense of mercy. It was not for the group of doomed men and women to his front, which was already eating his heart away; it was for the marine on the turret, who he knew had already killed innocents before this. He thought killed because Grant did only that, he was no murderer. Crowe was the murderer, for he was ordering their deaths. He knew he was under orders but he had the power to stop these senseless killings, yet he did not. And he would not let another man feel the pain he did now.

"Private," he said to Grant, "step down. I cannot order someone to do something like this." A look of relief swept over Grant has he got off the Humvee. He thanked the colonel and began to walk away as the sound of gunfire burst into his head. He turned in time to see Colonel Grant firing several more bursts from the machinegun at the group of civilians and hear their screams as they fell into the trench behind them. Before his stomach emptied itself of its contents he saw Crowe fall back into the Humvee, tears covering his face as snot dripped of his nose.

The last thing Crowe saw before pulling the trigger was a woman. She appeared to be in her thirties, with light mocha skin, long black hair, and deep brown eyes. She was fingering a small pendant around her neck as the first bullet tore her chest open. After Crowe was able to stand he walked toward her body. Her eyes were open but she her face showed no sign of pain. She looked peaceful, he thought as he closed her eyes forever. He slid the bloody pendant out of her fingers and held it in his palm. It was a small silver heart held around her neck by a slim silver chain. He looked at the words engraved on the heart. Words that stuck with him forever but held little meaning until nine years later. Engraved on the heart were ten simple words:

_ To a loving mother and wife _

_ from_

_ Alyx and Eli _

The door to Crowe's room squeaked open as Dr. Eli Vance stepped in.

"Hello Teddy. Come on, we have to..." Eli stopped as he saw Crowe fingering a small silver heart he held in his left palm. He slowly walked up to sitting man, his metal leg clanging against the hard cement floor. He bent down and without asking grasped the heart from his friend's hand. He saw Crowe look up at him, tears starting to form in his eyes. He then looked at the heart, reading the words engraved on it aloud. He already knew what it said but he had to read it, for himself.

Before he could react Crowe fell to his knees and sobbingly said, "I'm so sorry Eli. It was me... I did it. She's dead because of me. I...I...killed her." Eli helped lift his friend off his knees. He stood there and stared at him for what seemed to be an eternity. His eyes never changed. Only the one small tear that escaped his eyelid betrayed any emotion.

"Ted, you have been my best friend since I met you three years ago," he said softly, no anger or malice was in his voice, "That was a long time ago. You were under orders..."

"But I didn't have to follow them," Crowe snapped, cutting Eli off.

"No, you did not have to. But you did. Neither of us can change that. I forgive you for this...because you had the courage to tell your best friend this." He placed the pendant in Crowe's palm and closed his hand around it. "I want you to keep this, as a gift from me to you. Do not tell anyone this...especially Alyx. They do not need to know and I do not believe that Alyx would have the strength to forgive."

A small smile managed to part Crowe face, "Thank you Eli. I could not leave you in the dark anymore."

Eli smiled, "I know. That is how I know you are my friend. Now hurry up and get ready cleaned up. Meet me in the briefing room as soon as possible," he said as before he left the room. Crowe wiped his face with a small towel from his dresser and then placed the pendant in the his jacket's left chest pocket, over his heart.

Kaitlyn suddenly bolted up from her slumber. Two surprised men by the door were facing her. It appeared that the opening of the large metal had startled her from her sleep. She had slept for ten straight hours after crying herself to sleep after her interrogation. She still in her undergarments, the rest of her clothes were folded up, lying on the bed next to her. The two men by the door both wore dark blue fatigues, one was holding several pairs of clothes in his hand.

"Ms. O'Rourke, please follow us when..." Kaitlyn was surprised by what they called her but she was already standing with her back facing them with her hands behind her back.

"What are you doing?" one of the rebels asked her.

"Waiting for you to handcuff me," she said arrogantly, "the last time you came you had me bound, gagged, and blindfolded." Both men burst out laughing. She turned around and gave them an annoyed look.

"What are you laughing about?" she said angrily.

One of the soldiers managed to stop laughing, "No, they will not be necessary. We have brought you some clean clothes. We don't know your size so we guessed. We'll have your clothes washed for you," he said as he laid the clothes in his arm on a bed.

"Fine," she said, the malice still in her voice, "if you would excuse while I change." The men left her alone in the room, telling her to open the door when she was done. She grabbed each article of clothing and examined them closely. There was a pair of blue jeans, a white T-shirt, a gray windbreaker, a pair of white socks, and a pair discolored white sneakers. She took off her bra and panties and placed them with her dirty clothes. She did not like the idea of going nude under her clothes but she felt that her underwear should be washed as well. She struggled to put the jeans since they were one size to small. Kaitlyn knew she wasn't big or fat but the pants she just put on were made for the anorexic. The white T-shirt was a size to small as well put it was comfortable. The socks fit fine but the coat was to small as well. The sleeves did not even reach her wrists and it stopped just above her navel. The sneakers fit fine though. She picked up her dirty clothes and heels and opened the door.

One of the soldiers took her clothes. He then jogged down the corridor and took a left turn about thirty yards down. The other man smiled when he saw her. He knew the clothes he gave her were too small. The base kept a large store of clothes in the base. Some of the clothes were very sexy and revealing. They were meant for the parties the base sometimes held. They held no purpose other than keeping up the rebels spirits and morale. The revealing clothes were for the women that lived there. While many were either too young or old to be wearing such things there was some young women and couldn't wait to dress themselves up the few times a year they can. Several of them were very beautiful but the woman standing before him far exceeded their beauty he thought.

He finally snapped out of his daydream, "If you would follow me, Ms. O'Rourke," he said, leading her down the corridor.

"Where you taking me, and why are you treating me differently?" Kaitlyn asked suspiciously.

"I am taking you to see our leaders. They wish to speak to you," he said. Kaitlyn did not press the man for anymore information and followed him in silence. After a short elevator ride, she was lead through an open door. The room was large, at least twenty meters by twenty meters. There were several maps covering the right wall. Most of the them were of City-17 and the surrounding are but some were of much larger regions. There was a large round table with twelve seats placed around it in the center of the room. Sitting in one of the chairs on the left side of the room was Adrian Shepard.

"Adrian," Kaitlyn cried out as she ran toward him. He began to get up but was only thrown back into the chair as she jumped onto him, giving him a strong, affectionate hug. Needless to say, he was quite shocked toward her reaction of seeing him.

"Hey…uh… are you alright," he said softly. She slowly got off him and stared into his eyes.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just glad to see you're alright. What are we doing here? What are we doing here?" her questions kept on going and Adrian could not answer her. Every time he spoke she would not stop, she kept asking questions frantically. He could take no more and in a flash he sprang up and gently covered her mouth with his hand. She was taken by surprise and suddenly stopped speaking.

He removed his hand from her mouth, "Thank you," he said, getting an annoyed glare from Kaitlyn, "I don't know where we are or what is going to happen. Let's just sit down and wait, okay." She nodded in agreement and sat down in the seat to his right, drawing herself closer to him.

The door opened and four figures came through the entrance. Adrian slowly stood up as the figures took their seats across from them. Kaitlyn remained seated but stared up at Adrian, wondering what had shocked him. Dr. Eli Vance, William Collins, and the Vortigaunt John each took their respective seats. But it was the man who sat across from Adrian that occupied his gaze.

"Corporal Shepard, it is good to see you again," the man said.

Adrian opened his mouth to speak but nothing escaped his lips. After what felt like an eternity to Shepard he was finally able to speak, "Colonel Crowe…..what the hell is going on here?"


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: A Look Into the Past

"Corporal Shepard, it is good to see you again," Crowe said, sitting across from Adrian.

"Colonel Crowe….what are you doing here?" Adrian asked, still starring at his old commander. Kaitlyn only stared at Adrian until it finally struck her. After reading Adrian's profile at the Combine base, she discovered much about his regiment. A Colonel Theodore Crowe was the commanding officer of the 81st Hazardous Environment Combat Regiment deployed to the incident at Black Mesa. She knew that many military commanders became resistance leaders so it was plausible that this Crowe was a member of the resistance; but what was he doing in Eastern Europe.

"Oh no, it's not colonel anymore," Crowe said with a huge smile on his face, "it's General Crowe now." Adrian was dumbstruck, he could only stare at his old commander. Slowly but steadily he sat back into his chair. Crowe had not changed much in the twelve years Adrian was stuck in the black void. He still had a crew cut but it appeared to be much grayer and his face was drawn and tight. His green eyes seemed to have lost that sparkle they once held, as if they had faded to an almost grayish-green color.

"General? General of what sir? I was told that the U.S. and every other country doesn't exist anymore."

"That is partially true Adrian. Let me tell you what has happened over the past twelve years," Crowe said sadly.

The next two hours changed Adrian in more ways he could even think of. Crowe went into detail about the consequences of the Black Mesa incident. For three years the Portal Storms ravaged the planet as thousands of alien creatures crossed over to Earth, forcing the people into overpopulated cities to protect themselves. After three years the Combine first appeared, the Citadels began to spring up in dozens of cities across the globe. For one year they sat there until the French attacked the one in Paris, not even knowing its purpose. Fighting spread across the world, sporadic skirmishes shattered many cities. After six months contact was established between the United Nations and the Citadels. Dr. Wallace Breen acted as the emissary for the Combine, as they called themselves. Breen asked the complete, unconditional surrender of every nation on the planet and to receive the Combine with open arms as their rightful overlords. After the U.N. refused the Combine's terms the most devastating war in history occurred. Ten million people perished in what became known as the Seven Hours War. In only a mere seven, short hours, country's entire militaries were annihilated, cities were laid to waste by conventional warfare or destructive Combine weapons. After seven hours, the United Nations surrendered to the Combine. Dr. Breen became the viceroy of Earth, acting as a puppet leader for the Combine.

Several nations refused to give in and kept on fighting, but they were quickly crushed. All humans were placed in cities occupied by Citadels. There was one-hundred-twelve of these cities, City-17 was the capital and was occupied by the largest Citadel, one that rose into the clouds. For eight-in-a-half years the Combine ruled the world with an iron fist. After two years of occupation, the resistance sprang to life. Many scientists from Black Mesa and political and military leaders from the former western powers formed what became known as the Lambda Resistance. They established their headquarters outside the Combine capital of City-17, formally Odessa, Ukraine on the coast of the Black Sea.

When Crowe had finally finished his story, the room fell into a deathly silence. For Adrian, everything had just been explained. Everything he had encountered now made sense. The infestation of alien creatures, the Combine, the rebel soldiers, the Citadel, it was all clear to him now.

Almost everything was clear to him.

He still did not who or what that g-man he encountered in the black void was. The void itself was left unexplained. He thought briefly about asking them about it. He decided against it. It would be better to earn their trust and friendship before telling them about it.

All became clear for Kaitlyn as well. She was too young to remember much from the beginning of the alien attacks and the Combine conquests. She only knew what little information her parents told her before they were taken away and what Combine propaganda told her. Even after joining them they had still told her nothing. Everything was a lie, and this only fueled her hatred for them all the more.

Although Adrian now had a clear history for the twelve years he had missed, something was still bothering him. He could not quite place it but something was left unexplained. He assumed they could not or perhaps would not explain the g-man and the void but it was not that that was bothering him. He looked at each man sitting across from him. Each man only wore an expressionless face. Even Crowe's expression was the same. His eyes finally fell onto the Vortigaunt, John, and he was then hit right in the face.

It had been so obvious. How could he not have known what was bothering him from the start. It did not take him long to figure it out but the mere simplicity of it made him feel like a fool.

"Wait, wait," he finally said. Everyone's gaze fell upon him, even Kaitlyn's. "What about this alien here, John. What the hell is he doing here and why the fuck are you allowing him to sit here Crowe." Eli, Collins, and Crowe suddenly burst into laughter. Adrian and Kaitlyn could only sit there confused.

"It was about time you noticed that Shepard," Crowe said, barely containing his own laughter, "you were never slow at picking things up but this does not surprise me. John here is a Vortigaunt. And yes, we did fight them at Black Mesa."

Eli suddenly took over for Crowe, "The Vortigaunts were slaves Adrian, much as the same as most of humanity is today. They hail from the planet Xen. When the portal between our two worlds was established at Black Mesa, they were enslaved by a creature we called the Nihilanth. The creature itself was controlled by the Combine but it had a telepathic link with the Vortigaunts. Under the influence of the Combine overlords it ordered the Vortigaunts to attack Earth. During their attack we were able to destroy this creature. Have you ever heard of Gordon Freeman, Adrian?" Eli asked inquisitively.

"Yes, a little," Adrian said, somewhat confused, "I had no idea at the time of what our mission at Black Mesa was but I heard that Freeman was a priority target. That we had to take him out."

"True are your words Shepard," John said, "just as the words of your companion are. Our savior he is, just as you are ours as well. We would forgive you but it is not ours to give. From you, we ask it." Adrian starred at him not knowing what the alien meant.

"What do…" he was cut off by Eli before he could finish his question.

"We will get to that soon enough. The Nihilanth was given the power to telepathically bend the Vortigaunts to his will. This ability was given to him by the Combine, and it was theirs to take away. Most of the other creatures that crossed over to our planet were just wild animals. Our only hope to stop this invasion was to open a portal, one which would allow us to cross over to Xen so we could destroy the Nihilanth. We sent Gordon Freeman through the portal, and it was he who fought and killed the Nihilanth. This freed the Vortigaunts and closed the portals. We thought we had won, but we were wrong," Eli's voice revealed a hint of sorrow.

"In order to open the portal to Xen, Freeman had to launch a satellite into orbit that would create a relay signal to the planet. We used this signal to teleport Freeman near the Nihilanth. However, it was this signal that the Combine needed to open a teleport to Earth. Soon after they reopened the teleport and sent creatures from Xen all over the planet, forcing us into the cities. That is when the Combine teleported the Citadels to Earth. During the Seven Hours War we managed to destroy the signal but they already had there foothold. They have been trying to reopen the portal but they do not need it to control and ravage the planet. Every month they send transports full of our planet's resources back to their home planet. We don't know how long it takes to get to their planet, all we do know is that they are slowly but methodically killing off Earth. We estimate that within twenty years, Earth will no longer be able to sustain life. And the two-in-half billion people still alive will die."

Adrian could see the looks of pain on everyone's face. Eli, Collins, and Crowe had expressions of helplessness while Kaitlyn had one of sorrow. John remained expressionless, or so Adrian thought since he could not read the alien's expressions as of yet. The silence was finally broken by Collins.

"Going back to what John was saying. Gordon destroyed the link between master and slave. However, you destroyed the enforcer. The creature you killed at Black Mesa had the ability to control the Vortigaunts as well. It had the power to control them. But since you killed it you helped free them just as much as Freeman did. Since then, the Vortigaunts have been helping us free our planet from the Combine. So far, all we have been able to do is free people from the cities. We have established many towns across the globe for these people to live in freely. We think the Combine knows of many of these settlements but they probably don't think of them as a threat. However, our efforts will be for nothing if we cannot drive the Combine off Earth."

"So, that is why you view me as a savior John," Adrian said to the alien, "I thank you as well as forgive you for what your people did to my friends at Black Mesa. I also ask for your forgiveness for taking the lives of many of your kind there as well." He had spoken in a clear voice as if he was someone older and wiser than his own person. Kaitlyn noticed this and looked up at him in surprise. She had already discovered that Adrian was a kind man but she did not know he had the maturity of someone far beyond his age. She had always pictured him as a cursing, roughneck marine; albeit one with a good heart.

"Thanks we give to you, Shepard," John spoke in his strange, raspy voice, "but we cannot give it to you for it is not ours to give." Adrian eyes widened in disbelief. He had just forgiven an enemy for killing his friends yet he could not forgive Adrian for his actions.

"What do you mean by that John?" Adrian asked.

"Anger we know you feel, Shepard," they alien spoke, "but it truly is not ours to give. Difficult it is to discuss. One day we will explain this to you, perhaps." John's voice seemed to sadden, Adrian thought. It was still raspy but it had a tone of sorrow in it. Perhaps it was telling the truth he thought. He decided to not push his luck and asked something else.

"When I was held at the Combine station. I was told that there were only nine survivors from our regiment, sir," he said to Crowe, "is that true?"

"No, Shepard," Crowe said, "we know of twenty-four still alive, you and I being a part of them that is. Fifteen, like myself are leaders of the resistance. The other nine are still in the United States and serve in their military."

Adrian's eyes widened in shock, "I thought you said every country no longer exists, sir."

"Well," Crowe began, his voice a little excited at the thought of revealing this to Shepard, "the Combine took control of the eastern and western coasts of the country. The government did not sign Breen's bill of surrender like all the other countries. So all military units and the federal government moved between the Appalachian and Rocky Mountains. They completely control that area. The Combine attacks them once in awhile, but they must not consider the place a threat because they never send in a strong enough force. So they are easily defeated. So the United States is the only nation to still exist today. But they don't have the strength to do much other than defend themselves. They do send weapons, advisors, and aid to the resistance where ever they can. Most of our advanced weapons come from them. Because of them, the resistance is as strong as it is. Without them, we would only be a small band of disorganized, ill-equipped rebels." Crowe said all of this proudly. He was no doubt proud of the fact that his homeland still existed. Adrian felt the same, as did Eli, Kaitlyn, and Collins; all of whom were born and raised in the U.S.

"Well, that's good to know," Adrian said, "but what is Kaitlyn and I doing here? What are you going to do to us."

"Why recruit you of course," Eli said, a large grin spreading across your face.

"I'm in," Kaitlyn nearly shouted out in excitement, "what do you need me to do." All the faces in the room turned toward her. Everyone wore an expression of surprise. None of them doubted the girl's spirits but they did question her resolve. They did not expect her to be so quick to agree to joining them. She was lied to and had her family taken away from her by the Combine but to switch allegiance so rapidly shocked them.

It also made them uneasy. It is hard to accept someone as a friend and ally after they abandoned their former leaders and allies. Kaitlyn did just learn the truth about the Combine and the resistance but they still had difficulty accepting her with open arms. Her passing of the polygraph test eased their mistrust enough to allow her to join them.

"Very well," Eli said, "we appreciate your attitude. We'll tell you soon what we need you to do." A large smile parted her soft lips when Eli said this.

"And what about you, Adrian. Will you join us?" his former commanding officer asked. Adrian contemplated his offer. His thoughts dwelt upon his encounter with the g-man. He had told Adrian that his military expertise would be needed. He had also told him that he would all the time he could get. His decision came to mind quickly.

"Yes, I'll join you," Adrian said.

"Excellent," Eli said delightfully.

"It is good you have made that choice," John said, "we welcome you eagerly."

"Yes," Crowe quickly interrupted, "Now! On to business. Captain Collins here, has formed a special operations unit, the Special Priority Assault Deployment Encounter Service, or S.P.A.D.E.S. It is designed for all sorts of operations such as recon, seek and destroy, search and rescue, assault, etc. etc. They would operate in small squads, no more than a dozen men at a time. We want to have at least six fully trained and equipped teams. We want you to train and command them."

"Command them?" Adrian snapped, "I can help train them but I'm no commander. I'm only a corporal."

"Not anymore," Crowe said, "Collins is a good commander but he doesn't have enough experience to lead a special ops unit. You do," he said after a long pause.

"But Black Mesa was my first mission. I had never seen combat before then," Adrian said.

"True, but you've had the necessary training and some experience. You were part of a special ops unit while in my regiment. You will be promoted to major and begin immediately," Crowe said. Adrian pondered the offer for a moment. What the general just told him was true; his mission to Black Mesa had provided him with enough experience to train anyone. The long, grueling months of training for the 81st HEC Regiment gave him a very broad spectrum of tactics, weapon layouts, and maneuvers. Yet he was still unsure of himself. He feared for the safety of the men under his command. Adrian did not know if he had the qualities of a leader. But he knew he was needed, and in the end, his kind heart beat his uncertainty.

"Very well, I will train and lead these men," Shepard said in a strong, assertive voice. The rebels leaders were all pleased by his answer. If Shepard could turn the SPADES into an elite unit then they could finally launch the offensive they had planned out.

"Good. William and Theodore will debrief you on all of our capabilities and weapons as well as the Combine's," Dr. Vance said to Adrian. He turned toward Kaitlyn and looked at her with a smile on his face. "Kaitlyn will stay here with John. I have much work that needs to be done so John here will find out what he can about the Combine from her. I thank you both for accepting our offer. With both your knowledge and abilities I am sure you will prove a valuable friend and ally." He then got up and before leaving he shook both their hands and then disappeared out the door.

"Major Shepard," Adrian looked up, the smile on his face told everyone that he liked the sound of that, "if you would follow Captain Collins and myself." Adrian got up and followed the captain and general after giving Kaitlyn a soft smile. She returned the gesture with a smile as she blushed. The vortigaunt interrupted her thoughts of Adrian as he stood up.

"It is good you have agreed to join. Now if you could tell us everything you know about our enemy, we would be most grateful," John said in his raspy yet soft and wise voice.

* * *

Adrian followed the two men down a long corridor. Crowe was speaking to him, telling him about the Black Mesa East facility. "This used to be a large Soviet bunker during the Cold War. It was to operate as a secret naval headquarters during a major war in Europe. After the wall fell the Ukraine military took it over. They used it merely for storage, nothing really special. We moved our headquarters here several years ago. Dr. Vance leads a science team here conducting a lot of research. Sorry, but I can't tell you much about it. I barely understand it, myself. The bunker is shaped in a rectangle, about seven-hundred yards long and three-hundred yards wide. It has ten floors, each them underground. There are four entrances, one on each point of the compass. On the third floor, and the west side there is a tunnel about a mile long that leads to a large warehouse and hangar. That is where we bring in supplies. There are currently three-thousand humans and vortigaunts living on the base. Many are scientists, maintenance, and servicemen but we do have a large contingent of troops. Many families live here, we even a school and a fully equipped hospital and fully trained medical staff." 

"Uh, I know I agreed to join you and all," Adrian said warily, "but it isn't wise to tell me all this."

"I know that Adrian," Crowe said in a joking manner, "I would not normally tell someone in your position this for security reasons but I served with you once before. And I trust you fully, Major Shepard. Here it is." He led them through a door into a small room. The walls were covered with maps and photographs and many large folders laid on the table. They all took a seat at the table, Adrian sat between the two.

"Oh, before we begin, I just want to tell you that Eli does that all the time," Crowe said.

"Does what?" Adrian asked confused.

"You mean you haven't noticed!" the general said surprised. "The good doctor likes to call everyone by their entire first name. Since your name is short as it is you probably didn't notice and it probably won't bother you. But for Collins and I…well, being called Theodore and William can get quite annoying at times."

"Yeah, I guess it would," Adrian said, a small smile parted his face. For the next three hours Adrian was given a specific briefing about the resistance and Combine forces, mostly in and around City-17. General Crowe left an hour into the debriefing due to his other responsibilities. Collins continued at a slow, rhythmic pace. He allowed Adrian to ask questions to which he always gave a direct, honest answer. He even called him 'sir' and treated him with the respect one would give to a ranking officer.

The Combine's military capabilities did not surprise Adrian at all. After all, they conquer the entire planet in seven hours and have complete control of its resources. Adrian was surprised to discover that the Citadels were actually giant factories which produced weapons and assault vehicle on a large scale. However, the strength and capabilities of the Lambda Resistance shocked him. For a rebel force, scattered across the planet with no nation to call their own, they were extremely well organized and well positioned to launch concentrated on many of the Combine cities. As for City-17, they resistance could easily take it if it used speed and surprise. Since the Combine had a better trained army, tanks, APCs, and aircraft, the resistance would have to take several strong points in a matter of hours in order to seize the city. According to Captain Collins, the Combine had five divisions in and around City-17. All them were infantry based, but they were all mechanized and had plenty of air and artillery support. But the resistance had been able to move small, heavily-armed units into positions to quickly overwhelm the enemy.

The resistance could launch a surprise attack on the city along seven different routes with thirty-five thousand troops. It even had a hundred-fifty old, Soviet T-72 and T-80 tanks along with three-hundred APCs with enough fully trained crews to operate half of them. They even had four dozen modified civilian and military attack helicopters. But their greatest weapon but least reliable was the people of City-17. There was no doubt that they hated the Combine. If they rose up against them then the resistance could easily equip much of them to fight back. This would cause the Combine to fight an enemy on many times its size on two fronts. The only problem was encouraging them to rebel. They needed something or someone great to encourage them to act.

"Would you like to meet the men now, sir" the captain said after he had finished the briefing.

"Yes, of course," Adrian said nervously. Collins then lead him out the room and into an elevator shaft. They went down three floors and walked along a small, confined hallway. After fifty yards, Collins opened a large metal door and came into a large dormitory. The room was large enough to house two-hundred men. As Adrian came in scores of men snapped up from their beds and gave him a sharp, crisp salute. Shepard was amazed by this act, not only was in disciplined but he had never seen this many people salute to him.

"Gentlemen," Captain Collins shouted, "this is your new commander and head instructor." He beckoned for Adrian to come forth. He stood before the captain and returned the men's salute.

"My name is Major Adrian Shepard," he said in a loud, confident voice, "I will turn all of you into the best trained unit in the world. Only seventy-two of you will leave this room as a Spade. And more importantly, from here on out your asses are mine. Do you understand!" He shouted the last sentence just like his old drill instructor, Sergeant Barnes, had done.

"Yes Sir!" was the response of almost two-hundred yelling voices.


End file.
